Capture by Kathryn Lasky (Book 1 in Guardians of Ga’Hoole)

I actually can’t assess books and writing confidently when I encounter them as an audio book. I enjoyed this listening experience, even though I found the narrator’s voice quite shrill and her altered voices for several characters annoyed me quite a bit. I thought that for certain young readers who like animal stories, this one offers a host of exciting bits. The militant owls are truly scary and disturbing, and this volume as a whole is an “origin” story of how the “Band” of these unlikely heroes is formed — a tried and true theme popular with readers in adventure tales. The Owl-ness of how things are in this particular imagined world is convincing enough to allow for suspension of disbelief. I am not seeking to read the rest of the series (16 volumes now) but am happy to stock them in the library for interested readers.