The Goblin's Puzzle: Being the Adventures of a Boy with No Name and Two Girls Called Alice by Andrew Chilton

He's a slave.  He has no life of his own.  He takes care of the plants and grounds as ordered.  When he's ordered to go on a trip with the young master, he goes.  When he sees the other slave kill the young master, he's forsaken.  Even though he had nothing to do with it, he'll be killed for not stopping it.  So he runs, right into more trouble.

Knopf Books for Young Readers and Edelweiss gave me the opportunity to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published January 19th.

The boy has no name.  That will be his saving grace in this story.  There are two girls named Alice.  One is a princess and one is not but a dragon can't tell between them; he only sees their name.  This strange grouping turns into an adventure tale that keeps your attention all the way through.  I kept expecting the slave to die but he keeps fighting all the way to the end.

The boy is a slave but he "saves" a goblin from the man who kept him imprisoned.  The goblin tells more lies than truth, but he makes the boy think.  That's a good thing because it's his wits that keep him alive in the end.

This book's message is don't get messed up with a goblin.  You might get a lot more trouble than luck if you do.