Readaloud: The Capture

Just as we were checking our pile of books out from the library a few days ago, Amirah plopped this book down on our pile at the last minute. The next day I read a chapter out loud, and must admit at first I was a bit sceptical. It was starting to sound like they were going to make a point of scientific information in a fictional story, and the mix just wasn't quite doing it for me.

A barn owl owlet is kidnapped by evil great horned owls and taken to an "orphanage" where the owlets are (sometimes unsuccessfully...) brainwashed. For what purpose, we have yet to discover. Re-telling the legends of their ancestors is what helps them keep their heads straight. The story is definitely dark, but Amirah relishes stories like this, and by the second chapter I was utterly hooked. The biological information about owls is included more skillfully in the middle of the book, but from other reviews it sounds like some of the information is a bit non-scientific. I've been emphasizing that this is a fictional story about owls and that the information in there is exclusively to serve the story. I think perhaps we might do a little study unit on owls while we read the book to help separate fact from fiction.

There are twelve books in the series, all about 200+ pages long, so we have our work cut out for us if the series maintains its hold on us! We are all looking forward to reading more tonight and during shabbat. We've had to make it an evening-only book because Dean doesn't want to miss a chapter either. :) Fun reading!