Is There Any Escape?

Soren is home in his nest high in the forest. He may only be an owlet, but he's learning so much form his parents and it won’t be too much longer before Soren knows how to fly. For now, he loves talking with his little sister, though his older brother is a bit of a grump. One night when his parents are off hunting, Soren’s thrust out of the nest and lands on the forest floor. He thinks his life is over and that he’ll be dinner for a larger animal. But then the owls come and seem to rescue him, only they’re not rescuing him. Soren realizes they are capturing him. He is taken to St. Aggie’s and he meets Gilfey almost immediately. They become fast friends, and it isn’t long before they start to realize that something very bad is going on there. Owls are made to chant their names over and over again. Each is also assigned a new number to go by and questions are forbidden. The leaders of St. Aggie’s force all the young owls to stand in the light of the full moon for three nights straight. This can cause a lot of damage to owlets and Soren and Gilfey worry they’ll forget who they are and what they believe. They haven’t even learned how to fly and it’s forbidden at St. Aggie’s. Is there any way that they can escape? Being sent to separate places to work makes it even harder for them to devise a plan. Can they come up with something that will work? You’ll have to read this interesting fantasy story to find out!

I recently saw a trailer for the movie The Guardians of Ga’Hoole and it made me curious about the books. I decided to pick up the first one in the series, The Capture by Kathryn Lasky. I listened to the audiobook, which I highly recommend because the narrator did a wonderful job with the different voices and bringing the story to life. I like the friendship between Soren and Gylfie. Both characters have their strengths, and I think they do a great job supporting each other. Being at Saint Aggie’s sounded scary to me, so I could understand why they wanted to leave. I felt nervous for them about the dangerous situation they were in, but enjoyed reading the story from the owls’ points of view. It would be a perfect read for anyone in fourth grade and up who likes a story with a variety of characters and a more complex plot. Since listening to the first book in the series I have already finished the next three. I’m waiting for book five to arrive at the library. I thought there were eight books in the series- but just heard there are sixteen. I am looking forward to reading more of the series- but with that number of books it could take a while.

Has anyone else read The Guardians of Ga’Hoole: The Capture? Or have you seen the movie? Or have you read another book by Kathryn Lasky? We’d love to hear your thoughts!

Happy Reading!
~L