Guardians of Ga’Hoole, Book One: The Capture by Kathryn Lasky; Scholastic Inc.: New York, 2003; $4.99 I was excited when I opened the book Guardians of Ga’Hoole, The Capture, by Kathryn Lasky. I could tell it would be a good book once I read the cover. Initially, it appealed to my love of animals and nature. Once I started reading it, however, I was so interested in the story that I was fascinated by this adventurous world of St. Aegolius Academy for Orphaned Owls, also known as St. Aggies. This book is about a young barn owl named Soren. He and his friends are captured and taken to an evil academy where they hypnotize young owls and force them to join their evil army bent on destroying all owl kingdoms. Soren and his friend Gylfie escape the hypnotism by telling stories of the Great Ga’Hoole Kingdom. It forces them to stay awake so they are unable to fall asleep during a full moon, also known as moon blinking. That’s just the beginning of their adventures, for they escape and meet up with two other owls, Twilight and Digger. Together, they are in search of the Great Ga’Hoole Tree, which they hope will be able to stop the evil academy of St. Aggies. The author was very clever, and made a map of the entire owl world. This map is illustrated on the inside cover of the book and includes at least ten different areas, such as Forest Kingdom of Tyto (where Soren is from), St. Aegolius Canyons, and the Island of the Great Ga’Hoole Tree. On the outer edges of the map, there is even an area called Beyond the Beyond. I enjoy reading maps, and this made the book very appealing to me. I had read that the author spent several years doing extensive research about owls, in order to write a nonfiction book. She decided in the end to write a fantasy about owls, but to include as much information as she could about their natural history. This is very obvious when you get to the end of the book and find a type of glossary naming all of the characters in the story, their origin, and the type of animal they are. It also includes the scientific name for each animal. I was surprised that there were so many different types of owls. Not only was it a learning experience, it made the book seem much more realistic. The story definitely drew me into its fantasy world. I felt at times as if I was Soren. Sometimes I felt eager, sometimes I felt scared, sometimes victorious. I didn’t want to put the book down even to eat or sleep. It was definitely a page-turner with a good-versus-evil theme, which is a characteristic found in most of my favorite stories. Guardians of Ga’Hoole, The Capture, by Kathryn Lasky, is definitely a book I would recommend to my friends. In fact, I can’t wait to read the next book in the series. Anthony Cali, 10Acworth, Georgia
Book-Reviews
The Whale Rider
The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera; Harcourt, Inc.: New York, 1987; $17 I enjoyed reading The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera because the main character, Kahu, had many characteristics which I admire. She is also a girl whose values I can relate to. Kahu believes that boys and girls would do equally well leading their tribe. She was determined to prove this to her grandfather. He kept kicking her out of the boys’ lessons, saying that she cannot be the leader, because she is a girl. When Kahu heard this she got a little sad because she loved her grandfather but she did not want this to get in her way. Kahu was so determined to learn the ways of her people, she looked through the windows of the classroom to see what the boys were learning. She asked them to teach her, and soon she became very good at fighting and saying some chants that only boys were supposed to know. Although her grandfather did not want a girl to learn a boy’s lessons, Kahu continued to do so. Kahu wanted to show him that a girl could do anything that a boy could do. I admire her courage and her strong will to go after what she wanted. Kahu cared about her tribe and her culture. If her grandfather worried about something that was going on with the tribe then she would worry too. She wanted to learn the traditions, so that if she became leader, she could pass them on. Kahu was trying to show that she was strong and trustworthy. Half of her wanted to impress her grandfather and wanted him to love her even if she was a girl, and the other half was just proving that everyone is equal. I admire the respect that she shows to her grandfather and to the traditions of her people. Some of the cultural things that Kahu is learning are similar to the ones that I am learning. We are both being taught what gods to pray to, and how to pray to them. The Maori tribe believed that their great ancestor Paikea was able to ride and talk to a whale. That whale was the one they worshiped and believed was a god, as well as Paikea. In our Hindu tradition, we worship many forms of God in our temple. Some of these are named Krishna, Rama, Ganesha, and Hanuman. We are also learning how to sing, dance, and speak the way the people of our culture do. Kahu learned to speak the Maori language and dance the tribal dances. I am learning to read, write, and speak Hindi, the native Indian language. I am also learning classical Indian dance called Kathak. Kahu and I both go to a special school to learn these cultural things. We both have choral recitals, dance recitals, special places to worship God, and animals that are sacred to our people. The whale is the Maori tribe’s sacred animal, while the cow is sacred to Hindus. It is obvious that Kahu really loves her culture and the ways of her people. Despite her love and respect for her grandfather, she shows courage, strength, and determination when she saves the whale and the tribe. She has taught me that no matter who is against you, you should always keep trying for the things that you want. That is something everyone should remember. Nayna Shah, 9Morris Plains, New Jersey
Run, Boy, Run
Run, Boy, Run by Uri Orley, translated by Hillel Halkin; Houghton Mifflin Company: Boston, 2003; $15 The minute I opened this book and read the inside book jacket, I couldn’t wait to turn to page one and immerse myself in another fantastic read—Run, Boy, Run. I even set down Gathering Blue so I could read the amazing true story of a boy who refused to give up, even when I know I would have. One of the reasons I decided to review a Holocaust book is because half my family and lots of my friends are Jewish. Some of my ancestors lived in Poland and Russia and migrated to America to escape the Nazis—some didn’t make it and were murdered by them. So when I settled down in my living room and opened the book, I just couldn’t put it down. I was pulled into the story of a boy once called Srulik, later called Jurek. The story begins in a ghetto with two brothers planning to go to the Polish side of the ghetto, only to have their plans foiled by German boys. Srulik describes the incident through the eyes of his eager, eight-year-old Jewish body. Then, as he goes on with his tale, I feel the fear and pain as he realizes his mother and father are gone, and when belonging to a gang dubs him Red, and I feel the terror as he gets out of scrapes that should have ended in his death, but thankfully did not. Srulik’s parents want him to have a good life. So when Srulik is escaping Nazis, and he meets his father, dying in a field, his father gives him the Polish name Jurek Staniak—and to blend in more promptly sacrifices his own life in exchange for his son’s. From the cruel people who either turned him in to the Germans or beat him viciously, Jurek learns, sometimes the hard way, not to trust everyone. But as in our own lives, there are always the good people, in Jurek’s case, people who taught him to pray like a Christian, or a German soldier who didn’t turn him in, but hid him and kept him safe. Jurek’s life at times reminds me of my own—good people, horrible people, instant friends, and a loyal dog. But something that is unusual to witness today occurs almost per chapter in this book—Jurek has such trust, faith, and optimism that he pulls through predicaments in which even the coolest under pressure would’ve melted. Uri Orley writes in a way that makes me forget that it’s a man speaking instead of the eight-year-old boy who it seemed to be. He tells the story with the fear and curiosity that Jurek must have been feeling during his amazing experiences. All in all, Orley writes in such a way that I firmly believe he could become any character he pleased. While reading, I kept feeling a connection to the story because of my Nazi-hunted ancestors, and also because of the nickname that Jurek and my grandfather share—Red. Jurek’s tale also makes me realize that no matter how hard things get, life goes on. Jurek is amazing at finding a light in the midst of darkness, and because of these elements which Uri Orley uses to portray the true story of a boy called Jurek, I stand up and applaud this amazing book, Run, Boy, Run. Sophie Silkes, 12Kinnelon, New Jersey
