I read this book, by Maggie Pearson, yesterday – after Lirael. I don’t quite know what owl light has to do with the story, except that lots of it has to do with being out at night.
This is definitely aimed at a younger audience than Garth Nix was – I’d say 12 year olds or so. I did enjoy it, nonetheless: there are fascinating characters – the Stittle clan is hilarious, the local reprobates who turn out to be not so bad – and Miss Letty is just the sort of person I always wanted to be, a spinster who has the whole town under her sway. The main family is appealing in its normality. It barely rates as fantasy, I think, given it is set in the real world… the only fantastic element is a werewolf. He is not a huge part, although significant; I really liked the way he was incorporated, actually, because in some ways it made it seem quite normal, although fantastic at the same time.
Definitely recommended; in fact, I think I will probably read the next in the series.