Guardians of Ga'Hoole Book 15: The War of the Ember

Written by: Kathryn Lasky

First line: The light of the low-hanging, full-shine moon slipped into the cave, making it glow like a lantern of ice, above that tiny gut of sea linking the Southern Kingdoms to the Northern Kingdoms.

Why you should read this book: Everyone knew it would come to this: on one side, Nyra and her Pure Ones, aided by the Striga and an army of runaway Dragon Owls, with hundreds of hagsfiend eggs just about to hatch; on the other side, Coryn and the Guardians of Ga'Hoole, supported by wolves, bears, snakes, and a host of other surprising factions and creatures. The prize is the right to rule the world, choosing either a path of darkness or one of light. Sacrifices will be made, lives will be lost, but in the end, only one creature can decide the ultimate fate of the powerful, magical Ember of Hoole and, therefore, the fate of the world.

Why you shouldn't read this book: If you haven't read the previous 14 books, it will be pretty difficult to decipher. Aside from a cast of dozens of characters, many of whom have strange names, and the invented words of the Hoolian language and the various words used by other species, there are several other languages being spoken. Decoding the end of this story is a challenge even for those who have been following the whole way through.