The mysterious, mythical Ga’Hoole Tree and the legendary Guardians of Ga’Hoole are the hopeful destination and the incentive of the characters. Aggie’s is introduced, with its penchant for brainwashing (“moonblinking”) and desire to obtain the mysterious flecks, more valuable than gold (it’s not obvious, but there are several clues in this book that the flecks are iron). The series, as far as I can remember, is divided up into multiple arcs, so The Capture sets the stage for the first arc. The world is a post-human world, populated entirely by animals and it seems the only “sentient” ones are owls (to be honest, I’m not sure it’s revealed to be post-human until later in the series…this book reads as straight up “fantasy animal world”).

From the beginning, Lasky develops the “owl culture” of the Ga’Hoole series, complete with slang, profanity, and detailed information about owls themselves (such as species, flying, eating habits, etc.). It’s been a while since I’ve read them and a lot of details have escaped me, so it was almost as if I was reading The Capture for the first time (almost). My favorite part about them (at least, the first six) is the gorgeous illustrations that adorn the inside front and back covers. I don’t remember how I discovered them (maybe the first few were given as a Christmas gift?), but I ended up getting every single one that came out. Rating: 3/5 Guardians of Ga’Hoole was one of my favorite book series growing up. With new friend, clever and scrappy Gylfie, he uncovers is a training camp for the leader’s own nefarious goal. Pushed from his family’s nest by his older brother, barn owl Soren is rescued from certain death on the forest floor by agents from a mysterious school for orphaned owls, St. The Capture, by Kathryn Lasky, was published in 2003 by Scholastic.

The capture by kathryn lasky