Search - The Capture (Guardians of Ga'hoole, Bk 1)

Reviewed by Joan Stradling for TeensReadToo.com

Born in the peaceful forest of Tyto, Soren the barn owl looks forward to a life of eating bugs and learning to fly, but evil forces have another plan for the owls.

When Soren is captured and taken to a mysterious place known as St. Aegolius Academy for Orphaned Owls, he discovers the orphanage has a darker purpose. With the help of his friend, Gylfie, they set out to uncover the truth and find a way to escape.

Unfortunately, the only way out is up, and the young owls will have to learn to fly if they have a hope of escape.

I first read THE CAPTURE many years ago and looked forward to reacquainting myself with the world of the owls. This tale of suspense and finding heroes in unlikely places is full of struggles and triumphs that are easy to relate to, even though the main characters are birds. Re-reading it made me want to get my hands on the other books in the GUARDIANS OF GA'HOOLE series so I can continue reading Soren's story.

I read this book aloud to my three boys, ages 13, 11, and 10. They absolutely loved it and were chanting "another chapter, another chapter" almost every night. It was so easy to get caught up in Soren and Gylfie's struggles and we learned not only of their struggles, but we were also able to apply many lessons they learned to our own lives as we are struggling through some pretty big issues of our own.

Now we are reading the second book of the series aloud as well. We continue to love Soren and Gylfie, as well as Twilight and Digger. Great series of books!