The Owl Keeper
The Owl Keeperby Christine Brodien-Jones
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. (goodreads.com)
This book was beautifully written. The story was beautiful, the descriptions were beautiful the relationship between Max and his owl and yes, even Rose was beautiful.This story was also creepy in a way that I was not expecting. Guess what? I stumbled into yet another dystopian novel and didn't even know it! I was just so happy that my crappy library had this book when none of the stores near me were stocking it! It was one of the first books I added to my Debut Author Challenge list and I couldn't get my hands on a copy. Imagine my surprise when I was looking through my library's almost microscopic English sector and found this book. I was beyond thrilled.I get the feeling this is a middle grade book based on the characters and their dialogue (Max himself is eleven up to the end of the book on his 12th birthday). I am not entirely sure how old Rose is. Maybe a year older than Max?I thought this book was going to be more of a fantasy novel, not realizing it takes place in the future after the Great Destruction of 2o66 and now the world is ruled by the High Echelon and people are being forced to live in domed communities, all books have been destroyed, there is no television, no libraries and the only books allowed are either comic books about superheros who promote the domed communities or the textbooks issued by the Government.I have to say this book gave me the shivers more than once. I am not good with this type of scenario, but I was able to keep my creeped out factor to a minimum as I was so enthralled in the building relationship between Max and Rose and their quest to find the Owl Keeper and escape the Echelon.The little silver owl won my heart quickly as well. And she wasn't even the main focus. I so totally want a little owl now.This brilliant debut novel is a must-read. It might be a little too dark and creepy for 12 year olds, but I don't know. Twelve-year olds are a different breed than I was at that age. Even now I had nightmares caused by this book when I wen to bed last night and it was still on my mind when I woke up so I picked up the book and finished it before breakfast! It's a deep, intricate book that is not dumbed down for kids at all. I even found the dialogue fitting for 11 & 22 year olds who are trying to impress the other by what they know and what they can do. The voices were very real in my mind.Rose sort of reminded me of Pipi Longstockings at times (in a good way) with her bold, bossy and exaggerating nature. I didn't think I was going to like her much but she most certainly grew on me as the story unfolded. Max's caretaker and his doctor scared me to death and I felt suffocated when they were around as if I would never get away from them.The ending of the novel leads me to believe there may be a sequel in the future, although I don't know if there will be. It is a rather open ending where you can come to your own conclusions about what happens next, or have a second book to tell you. I'm not sure which I'd rather. I do know that if there is a sequel, I'll be picking it up right away!