Book Review: The Owl Keeper by Christine Brodien-Jones

The Owl Keeper
by Christine Brodien-Jones
Non-series

Delacorte Press Books for Young Readers
ISBN-10: 0-385-73814-5
ISBN-13: 978-0-385-73814-9
Publication Date: April, 2010
List Price: $17.99

Review: A boy allergic to sun particles, a mysterious girl only appearing at night, a last silver owl, weekly shots, mind control, strange and disgusting creatures that live to kill, a nanny keeping a very big secret and an evil government? What do all of these mean? What is going on? Find out in The Owl Keeper by Christine Brodien-Jones.

12 year old Maxwell Unger, known as Max, hasn’t been outside in the sun since his was 7 when he was diagnosed with some kind of disease that makes him allergic to sun particles. He has to get weekly shots to keep him well. Because of the illness, he is forced to stay inside with his babysitter, Mrs. Crumlin, all day and can only come out at night. He has a friend, a silver owl who lives on an “owl tree” in his backyard. It is the last silver owl alive and they are known for their exotic “owl songs”. One night outside with his owl, he meets Rose, a girl who is running with her dad from the government, the High Echelon. From that moment on, they meet almost every night. Together he and Rose find a strange creature called a skræk. He also learns some horrifying truths about the High Echelon. What are these secrets? What really is skræk? What do they do with Max? What happens next? Do you want to know the answers to these questions? Then make reading The Owl Keeper the top of your list of priorities!

This book absolutely amazes me! It is probably the best book I have ever read! The emotions that swirl around in this book are more than I could count! Anger, hope, perseverance, fear, rage, and cocky are just a few of them. These emotions are so well described in the book that you can feel them inside of you. The author also puts a lot of thought, details and imagination into this book. The author creates a creature called a skræk and uses wonderful descriptions such as “It had no hair and its slimy skin was transparent, with a tangle of pulsing veins underneath……its face looked pliable and half formed, like one of Mrs. Crumlin’s griddle cakes. Its eyes were sunk deep into its head, so deep, he couldn’t see them.”

The only disappointment is that it takes a really long time to build up to the climax which makes the first half of the book not as interesting as the second half. All in all this was a really fantastic book. With its wonderful details and vivid descriptions, this book deserves 4 and ½ stars. When I saw this book, I knew it would be a book that would be cherished by me for a long time. I hope that once you read this book you will love it too.

Review written by Sarah (6th grade student).

We would like to thank Random House for providing a copy of The Owl Keeper for this review.

Have you read The Owl Keeper? How would you rate it?