The Owl Keeper by Christine Bordien-Jones

Synopsis via goodreads:

Maxwell Unger has always loved the night. He used to do brave things like go tramping through the forest with his gran after dark. He loved the stories she told him about the world before the Destruction—about nature, and books, and the silver owls. His favorite story, though, was about the Owl Keeper.

According to Max’s gran, in times of darkness the Owl Keeper would appear to unite owls and sages against the powers of the dark. Gran is gone now, and so are her stories of how the world used to be. Max is no longer brave. The forest is dangerous, the books Gran had saved have been destroyed, and the silver owls are extinct. At least that’s what the High Echelon says. But Max knows better.

Maxwell Unger has a secret. And when a mysterious girl comes to town, he might just have to start being brave again.

The time of the Owl Keeper, Gran would say, is coming soon.

I saw The Owl Keeper over at Other Shelf Tours, the cover is beautiful – but having not heard much about it I was not sure what to expect, so I went into it with no premature expectations...and for the most part I enjoyed The Owl Keeper. It's the first book on Owl's I have ever had the pleasure of reading, and I loved hearing and learning more about there mysterious ways and there magical powers.

One thing, I think that might have made The Owl Keeper better, was more information on them and there past, what makes the Silver Owl so precious, what gives them there magic? Also, what exactly does the Owl Keeper do? These answers were not entirely clear to me...then again, the ending was kind of abrupt, so I am hoping maybe the story will be continued!

Christine Brodien-Jones has a writing style all her own, with amazing use of imagery – Imagining Max's world felt almost like I was being dropped into a dream, everything was there...details galore and feelings abound. The beauty emitted from the tiniest details brought to life each scene.

In addition to her use of the beautiful details, Christine is also a masterful story teller, once the story really started moving, there was no stopping it! The Owl Keeper, is action packed, full of dangerous poisoned wolves, and flying demons which have no fear – not to mention the government whose trying to control everyone, and mostly succeeding. The Owl Keeper keeps the reader on his (or her) toes, scrambling for the next page to find out what happens next!

I believe this story is well suited for both girls and boy's – matter of fact, I think this is one of those books I would give to a reluctant preteen boy, with the action and mayhem it's likely to be a hit with them, much like the beloved Harry Potter series is.

The ending of The Owl Keeper really leaves it open, I want to learn more about Max, and about Rose – not to mention Max's grandmother, with her special gifts and powerful spirit, even though she was not present most of the time, I found her unique and her spirit was defiantly something I could feel. I can only hope that we will get to see much more of Max and Rose as there adventures take them further – learning more about the High Echelon and the wonderful powers that the Owls posses.

Bottom Line – I enjoyed The Owl Keeper, very much. It was nothing like what I was expecting, it was better, it kept me entertained, and turning pages. Christine Brodien-Jones is an author to watch, she's got an amazing imagination and I can't wait to see where it takes us next! I give The Owl Keeper a 4 mushrooms.

PS. Something I forgot, that I can't review The Owl Keeper with out touching on is, courage and learning to trust yourself and your intuition – these things are major themes in The Owl Keeper, which I loved...Little Max starts off so scared of everything, but as he grows so does his courage and sense of self – amazing message to our young. Max demonstrates a monsters amount of courage, and begins to really trust himself! I just loved that!

The Owl Keeper
By: Christine Brodien-Jones
320 Pages
Published: April 13, 2010
Publisher: Delacorte