Title: The Invasion

Author: K. A. Applegate

Series: Animorphs #1

Genre: Young Reader

Rating: 5/5 stars

The Overview: Sometimes weird things happen to people. Ask Jake. He may tell you about the night he and his friends saw the strange light in the sky. He may even tell you about what happened when they realized the “light” was only a plane — from another planet. Here’s where Jake’s story gets a little weird. He and his friends are told the human race is under attack, but they’re given the chance to fight back. Now Jake, Rachel, Cassie, Tobias and Marco have the power to morph into any animal they choose. And they must use that power to outsmart an evil that is greater than anything the world has ever seen…

The Review:

I am so passionate about these books, I feel it would be a shame to run a book blog without paying homage to the series that sparked my love of reading. I read the first twenty so many times as a kid that I talked my mom into buying replacement copies because I was afraid I’d wear them out (as eventually I did). Anyway, I’m 27 now and finally ready to read through them all again. Every couple of weeks, you’ll get an update of my progress, and humor me as I reminisce about how each of these books affected me.

As the first book in the series, The Invasion offers adventure, humor, and creativity, making it a perfect read for ages 8 – 12 (and your geeky older students like me). I originally picked it up because I love animals, and the idea of kids being able to turn into them sealed the deal. While shapeshifting plays a critical role in the story, it was only a side benefit to all the great things Animorphs has to offer. I laughed, I cried, I fricken loved these books.

Title: The Visitor

Author: K.A. Applegate

Series: Animorphs #2

Genre: Young Reader

Rating: 5/5 stars

The Overview: Rachel is still reeling from the news that the Earth is secretly under attack by parasitic aliens known as the Yeerks. And that she and her friends — five kids who, purely by chance, stumbled onto a downed spacecraft and were given the power to morph into any animal they touch — are the planet’s only defense. But Rachel’s always been something of a daredevil. So when it’s suggested that they infiltrate the home of their assistant principal, Mr. Chapman, who also happens to be a human host of the Yeerks, she volunteers. But what she finds inside may be more than even she can handle.

The Review: 

This happens to be the first Animorphs book I ever read (when you live three hours from the nearest bookstore, you sort of take what you can get). It has all the things that made the first book amazing, but focuses more on character and story development than grand adventure.

Side story: when I was 11 years old, I typed up this entire book while trying to learn how to use a keyboard. Odd as it sounds, it actually worked. I showed up two years later to my 8th grade typing class an expert (as far as one can be) and spent the semester reading, you guessed it, Animorphs. While I felt pretty full of myself back then, my 27 year old self would like to go back and slap that child for that early induction of carpel-tunnel.

Anyway, I it’s safe to say I know this story well, and have probably read through it the most times of any of them (we’re talking 20+). Although Rachel is not my favorite Animorph, the books from her perspective are great (my fav. in the entire series was with her in book #12: The Reaction).

by Niki Hawkes