Alchemy And Meggy Swann

When Meggy Swann arrives in London with her only friend, a goose named Louise, her alchemist father rejects her as useless. He was expecting a son to help him with his work - and not only is she a girl, she walks painfully with two sticks. In a cold, comfortless house in a strange city, Meggy has no one to turn to. What is she to do? Will she be able to make new friends in daunting, teeming, colorful London and prove her worth to her father?