The Capture

Soren is a barn owl chick too young to fly when he tumbles from his nest -- and instead of being rescued, he's snatched by recruiters from St. Aegolius Academy for Orphaned Owls, a front for enslaving young owls to sort eggs and pellets. The academy keeps captives compliant through 'moon blinking,' a brainwashing ritual under the full moon that strips owls of their sense of self. Soren befriends an elf owl, Gylfie, and they fake compliance while secretly learning to fly, planning an escape to find their families and a legendary band of warrior owls, the Guardians of Ga'Hoole. The first novel in Kathryn Lasky's Guardians of Ga'hoole series.