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Loading... Guardians of Ga'Hoole #1: The Capture (original 2003; edition 2003)by Kathryn Lasky
Work InformationThe Capture by Kathryn Lasky (2003)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. Immagino che sia un libro per bambini. Ma anche se fosse, i bambini non sono mica scemi: si poteva osare qualcosa di piĆ¹ (ma mi sono fermato a pagina 87). ( ) Soren is a young Barn Owl living with his parents and two siblings, his older brother Kludd and his younger sister Eglantine. There have been disturbing reports of owlets going missing recently, but it's not something Soren is particularly worried about...until his parents leave on a long hunting flight and Soren suddenly finds himself pushed out of his nest. He can't fly and is completely defenseless. Before anyone is able to help him, he's snatched away by an owl who takes him to St. Aggie's, an owl orphanage. Soren knows that he isn't really an orphan, but none of the adults at St. Aggie's seem to care, and things get worse from there. Each owlet is referred to by a number rather than their real name, everyone is made to undergo something called a "sleep march," and questions are forbidden. Soren clings to his sense of self with the help of a new friend, an Elf Owl named Gylfie, and the two of them work together to find a way out of St. Aggie's and back to their families. My eldest niece is into animal books right now. I know she's reading Erin Hunter's Warriors series. I don't know if she's discovered this series yet, but I figured I'd give them both a shot and see what they were like. St. Aggie's was a weird and disturbing place. I don't know if Lasky based it off of anything in real life, but I found myself thinking of assimilation camps. The owlets were fed an inadequate diet of crickets, deprived of the ability to sleep properly, and subjected to "laughter therapy" or forced plucking if they didn't unquestioningly follow the rules. Most were prevented from ever becoming true adult owls. It was a lot darker than I expected. Just a warning: several characters are killed in this, and their deaths have an emotional impact on the main characters. I appreciated that their deaths resulted in more than just a paragraph or two of sadness, although I imagine it could be tough for sensitive younger readers. Lasky included several species of owls in this book, and their different traits and abilities added some nice variety. I don't know much about owls - their physical abilities seemed to be accurate, but I wondered about things like Mrs. Plithiver, a blind snake who served Soren's family, keeping their nest clean and free of maggots and insects (some googling indicates that this happens in real screech owl nests, although I'm still not sure about barn owls). Overall, I thought this was decent, although I'm not sure yet whether I'll be continuing on - I'm interested to find out who's behind St. Aggie's and what their plans are, but I also have lots of other things on my TBR mountain calling my name. Extras: A map of this book's world and a black-and-white drawing of Soren being taken away from his family. (Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) no reviews | add a review
Belongs to SeriesBelongs to Publisher SeriesIs contained inHas the adaptation
Fantasy.
Juvenile Fiction.
HTML: Soren is born in the forest of Tyto, a tranquil kingdom where the Barn Owls dwell. But evil lurks in the owl world, evil that threatens to change Sorenā??s life forever. Soren is captured and taken to a dark and forbidding canyon where there is a mysterious school. Itā??s called an orphanage, but Soren believes itā??s something far worse. He and his new friend, the clever and scrappy Gylfie, find out that the orphanage is actually a training camp. Soren and Gylfie know that the only way out is up. To escape, they will need to do something these fledglings have never done beforeā??fly. And so begins a magical journey. Along the way, Soren and Gylfie meet Twilight and Digger. The four owls band together to seek the truth, be reunited with their families, and protect the owl world from unimaginable No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.6Literature English (North America) American fiction 21st CenturyLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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