Guardians of Ga'Hoole #5: The Shattering

In the fifth book in this series, the war between an evil group led by Soren's brother, Kludd, and the owls of the Great Ga'Hoole Tree rages on. In the midst of war, Eglantine unwittingly becomes a spy for Kludd, leader of the Pure Ones (a group of evil owls). She is brainwashed by an owl sent by the Pure Ones to infiltrate the Great Ga'Hoole Tree. Her odd behavior eventually attracts attention, and Soren and his friends vow to find out what's wrong with Eglantine. They ultimately learn what happened and help her reverse the effects of the brainwashing. Kludd continues to battle against the Guardians of Ga'Hoole for control of their tree. In the end, Kludd and his forces are defeated. But his conflict with Soren is not yet over.

Kathryn Lasky has had a long fascination with owls. Several years ago, she began doing extensive research about these birds and their behaviors - what they eat, how they fly, how they build or find their nests. She thought that she would someday write a nonfiction book about owls, illustrated with photographs by her husband, Christopher Knight. She realized, though, that this would be difficult since owls are nocturnal creatures, shy and hard to find. So she decided to write a fantasy about a world of owls. But even though it is an imaginary world in which owls can speak, think, and dream, she wanted to include as much of their natural history as she could. Kathryn Lasky has written many books, both fiction and nonfiction. She has collaborated with her husband on such nonfiction books such as Sugaring Time, for which she won a Newbery Honor; The Most Beautiful Roof in the World; and most recently, Interrupted Journey: Saving Endangered Sea Turtles. Among her fiction books are The Night Journey, a winner of the National Jewish Book Award; Beyond the Burning Time, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults; True North: A Journey to the New World; Dreams in the Golden Country; and Porkenstein. She has written for the My Name Is America series The Journal of Augustus Pelletier: The Lewis and Clark Expedition, 1804, and several books for The Royal Diary series, including Elizabeth I: Red Rose of the House of Tudor, England, 1544, and Jahanara, Princess of Princesses, India, 1627. She has also received the Boston Globe Horn Book Award as well as the Washington Post Children's Book Guild Award for her contribution to nonfiction. Lasky and her husband live in Cambridge, Massachusetts.