The Owl Keeper by Christine Brodien-Jones

I worked on reading this book for a very long time, but once I got into it, I really enjoyed this story.  In a world that is rebuilding after the Destruction, Max Unger has been diagnosed as having an allergy to sun particles.  This means that he must stay inside during the day, so he is home schooled and watched after by a nanny/ housekeeper whom he does not entirely trust.  Although he is supposed to stay inside at night as well because it isn't safe, he often goes to visit a lone tree in a field where he has discovered a silver owl.  Silver Owls are feared by the government, who says they are extinct, but Max knows better. 

Before his grandmother dies, Max loved listening to her stories of a time before the Destruction, when Sages and Silver Owls worked together to make the world safe.  He especially loved the story of the Owl Keeper, who was supposed to come in times of Darkness to unite the silver owls and the sages and ward off evil.  

Now would be a good time for the Owl Keeper to come back, and when Max meets a mysterious girl at the Owl Tree, the two of them decide that they will have to work together to find the Owl Keeper.  The journey they embark upon is dangerous, and they are being chased by the High Eschelon (government), so will they make it to find the help they need to protect the silver owls and their families?  

I did enjoy The Owl Keeper by Christine Brodien-Jones (Lexile: 750; Interest Level: Grades 4-8) once I got into it.  Fans of animal stories, especially the protection of animals, as well as those who enjoy stories of post-war and post-destruction communities will be fascinated by this imaginative story.  (313 pages)

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