The Owl Keeper
Grade 5–8—Allergic to sun particles, Max Unger is forced to stay inside during the day with his caregiver, Mrs. Crumlin. He loves the night, since it has pleasant memories of his beloved grandmother, so he sneaks out and visits a silver owl and his new friend, a spirited girl named Rose. He knows that if he is caught he will be in trouble, for silver owls are evil in the eyes of the High Echelon. When Max discovers that Mrs. Crumlin and the High Echelon are preparing him for a sinister job, he makes a daring escape, taking Rose with him. The two follow the words of "the Silver Prophesy" to find the Owl Keeper and hopefully destroy the evil High Echelon for good. While Brodien-Jones fills her dystopic fantasy with many striking images and ideas, she leaves more questions than answers about her world. The prophecy at the beginning of the book echoes the one found in Susan Cooper'sThe Dark Is Rising(S & S, 1986), but Brodien-Jones overuses it to push the plot along rather than letting events happen organically. The characters aren't fully fleshed out, especially Rose, who seems more annoying than lovable. By book's end, this appears to be the first in a series. Jeanne DuPrau's "Books of Ember" series (Random) offers a much better dystopic vision for this age group.—Necia Blundy, Marlborough Public Library, MA(c) Copyright 2010.  Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc.  No redistribution permitted.