Genres
Description
The Earth is being invaded, but no one knows about it. When Jake, Rachel, Tobias, Cassie, and Marco stumble upon a downed alien spaceship and its dying pilot, they're given an incredible power -- they can transform into any animal they touch. With it, they become Animorphs, the unlikely champions in a secret war for the planet. And the enemies they're fighting could be anyone . . . even the people closest to them.
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1996-06
Publication
[Oslo] Gyldendal Tiden 1998
Pages
170
ISBN
8247803178 / 9788247803172
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User reviews
LibraryThing member celticstar
A good start to a series, explaining how & why the kids, Jake, Rachel, Tobias, Cassie and Marco got their ability to Morph and their dilemma of what to do with their new abilities.
LibraryThing member readingrat
A wonderfully imaginative start to a series that ultimately makes little forward progress.
LibraryThing member mountie9
Jake's Review: Mom this is so totally awesome! The cover is really cool and I would beg you to buy it for me just cuz the cover is so wicked. Can I stay up a bit later and start reading the next one (Mom's note: nice try, I give you A for effort on that one, now get your butt to bed now mister!)
Jake's Rating: 11/10
Mom's Review: This was much better than I expected. A lot of these types of series usually don't appeal to me, but I still cheer for them because they get boys reading. However, I found myself enjoying it. I think it reminded me a little of a cross between the X-files and V at times. An intriguing start to a series that I can see why the young boys like it. Lots of excitement, evil authority figures and gross stuff - nothing better to a young boy. Ok, Mom thought it was pretty cool too. I look forward to seeing what happens to the kids as the series progresses. As a mom I was thinking wow that is quite a lot of responsibility and the premise is way too scary for the targeted age -- but even Jake (who gets scared quite easily) was cool with it. Awesome, I wonder when I can get him to watch The X-Files and the cheesy original V (Even-though the effects and acting are better in the remake, I just cannot get into it) Now Jake finish reading the 2nd story so mommy can read it
Mom's Rating:8/10
We received this from Scholastic in exchange for an honest review
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This book is good because it has a lot of gross stuff in it that will make Mom make faces. The story is really exciting and there is a lot of funny stuff in it. I really like the character of Mario because he is a cool silver-back gorilla and he is really funny (mom's note: um, not sure I want to read this one) I think my friends would like it if it was a video game, since they do not like to read. I really want to read more of the series so I can find out what happens next. I think it will make me a stronger reader -- so can I keep reading tonight (Mom's note: nice -- you really are getting creative tonight --now bed)Jake's Rating: 11/10
Mom's Review: This was much better than I expected. A lot of these types of series usually don't appeal to me, but I still cheer for them because they get boys reading. However, I found myself enjoying it. I think it reminded me a little of a cross between the X-files and V at times. An intriguing start to a series that I can see why the young boys like it. Lots of excitement, evil authority figures and gross stuff - nothing better to a young boy. Ok, Mom thought it was pretty cool too. I look forward to seeing what happens to the kids as the series progresses. As a mom I was thinking wow that is quite a lot of responsibility and the premise is way too scary for the targeted age -- but even Jake (who gets scared quite easily) was cool with it. Awesome, I wonder when I can get him to watch The X-Files and the cheesy original V (Even-though the effects and acting are better in the remake, I just cannot get into it) Now Jake finish reading the 2nd story so mommy can read it
Mom's Rating:8/10
We received this from Scholastic in exchange for an honest review
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LibraryThing member Lymsleia
I read... I think it was the first seven or eight Animorphs books, back when I was fifteen or so. As I was reading them mostly for the plot (which didn't show a lot of variety from one book to the next) and since each book cost a small fortune but could be finished in about two hours, I just
This book is so, so hard to rate for me. (So I won't.) It mainly serves as an introduction and I can't even tell if the plot was rushed or paced just right. The main thing I took away from this reread is that if there's one thing you should read these books for, it's the characters. Sure, they aren't terribly deep (yet) but they're already showing their potential.
It took me half the book to once again settle into the kids' narrative voices (Jake in this book's case), which are very casual, as the book is presented as them talking to the reader directly (or at least directly addressing a potential reader in their world) in a very casual, teenage-y tone. It does fit the kids though, so I'm not really complaining. It's just something you'll have to get used to.
And then there are of course the "is this really a kids book?" moments. Our protagonists do an awful lot of crying-in-terror, and for good reasons too; many of the things they witness even in this first book are nightmarish. (I think the narrative voices help make things not as scary as they could be but between deadly alien monsters and humans enslaved in their own minds/bodies, there's plenty of horror of all kinds to be found.)
I'll definitely stick with the kids for at least a few more books.
(Favourite moments: Cassie's beautiful horse morph and the amazingly creepy scene with Jake and Marco playing a videogame with Tom.)
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wandered away from the series after a while. With used copies being available for a few cents nowadays, I decided to give the Animorphs another try, so here we go.This book is so, so hard to rate for me. (So I won't.) It mainly serves as an introduction and I can't even tell if the plot was rushed or paced just right. The main thing I took away from this reread is that if there's one thing you should read these books for, it's the characters. Sure, they aren't terribly deep (yet) but they're already showing their potential.
It took me half the book to once again settle into the kids' narrative voices (Jake in this book's case), which are very casual, as the book is presented as them talking to the reader directly (or at least directly addressing a potential reader in their world) in a very casual, teenage-y tone. It does fit the kids though, so I'm not really complaining. It's just something you'll have to get used to.
And then there are of course the "is this really a kids book?" moments. Our protagonists do an awful lot of crying-in-terror, and for good reasons too; many of the things they witness even in this first book are nightmarish. (I think the narrative voices help make things not as scary as they could be but between deadly alien monsters and humans enslaved in their own minds/bodies, there's plenty of horror of all kinds to be found.)
I'll definitely stick with the kids for at least a few more books.
(Favourite moments: Cassie's beautiful horse morph and the amazingly creepy scene with Jake and Marco playing a videogame with Tom.)
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LibraryThing member Audacity88
Quite good youth sci-fi. Simple idea but presented well with very strong plotting, if overreliant on the near-miss escapes and should-be-obvious realizations typical of young adult fiction.
I'm glad to know I had decent taste as a kid.
I'm glad to know I had decent taste as a kid.
LibraryThing member abbylibrarian
I picked this up for our Reading Wildly science fiction month and was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I can definitely see why kids have loved this series so much - it's full of fast-paced action, the characters are likeable, and the concept of morphing into different animals is
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something that probably stimulates the imagination of many kids. Show Less
LibraryThing member crashmyparty
I absolutely adored this series :) Started reading them at eight or nine, and then read everything by (then called) K.A. Applegate. Still a guilty pleasure and I look forward to sharing it with (perhaps) my kids or at least my friends' kids who I will happily corrupt with books!
LibraryThing member craig22
I loved this book! It was awesome! If you like books about aliens and mystery I think you will like this book. It is about 5 kids who accidentally find an alien then several more. The first alien was a good alien trying to protect them from the bad ones and gave the kids the ability to morph into
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animals. I hope you will read this book. Show Less
LibraryThing member benuathanasia
This is the introduction to the Animorphs series and the overarching conflict for the series. As such, there is quite a bit of setup to accomplish in a relatively short period of time. That being said, Applegate does an admirable job of introducing the audience to the necessary ideas, without
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bogging them down in information overload or sacrificing character development or action. Show Less
LibraryThing member Cheryl_in_CC_NV
A short comment for every book of the series until I get a chance to re-read them. All three of my sons and I loved this series and read every single book - I even bought every single book (most, but not all, used; some through school book sales). I'm excited to re-read them to see how the five
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main characters develop and to watch all the different transformations again. Show Less
LibraryThing member aquaorbis
I read all these books ravenously when I was in middle school and later (secretly, because it was not yet vogue to be reading young adult books after age 13) throughout high school and college. I bought every single one of this series and then donated them all to my public library. I miss them.
LibraryThing member ZoeWashburne
These books are the reason I read. Harry Potter who? They're also the reason why most of what I read involves a rag-tag group of people saving the world...
LibraryThing member Vulco1
Still good and action packed. A bit creepy. Hits all the right notes.
Now that I’m older though, the writing isn’t quite as good as I remembered. It’ll probably get better because I think Everworld and Gone are good
Now that I’m older though, the writing isn’t quite as good as I remembered. It’ll probably get better because I think Everworld and Gone are good
LibraryThing member widdersyns
Earlier, I saw some people talking about how dark Animorphs was. The series was ubiquitous during my childhood but I never actually read any of them (I was a Babysitter's Club child, and sometimes Goosebumps), and I was really surprised to hear that considering how goofy and formulaic most of the
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series marketed to kids my age were. I looked into Animorphs a bit more and became pretty interested (and amazed that this is what everyone was reading and I had no idea). I quite liked the first one. I might read more. Show Less
LibraryThing member mutantpudding
I never actually read these books as a kid but now Im almost 30 I figured, why not try them? Pretty intense violence and horror to start off with and tbh the whole morph alien thing is a little goofy but I actually really enjoyed this book and plan on checking out a few more, although maybe not the
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whole series since it appears to be ridiculously long. Show Less
LibraryThing member whitewavedarling
I was a little too old for these when they first came out, so although they drew my eye because of the animal element, I never got around to them. Finally, a few decades later, I decided to give them a try...and I'm so glad I did. More than standing up to time, this first book in the series is a
Absolutely recommended.
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fun, action-packed, animal-centric adventure that I thoroughly enjoyed. I'm sure I would have loved these as an elementary-schooler, but as an adult who's picky about children's reads, I'm still diving in and loving them. When my nieces get old enough, I can't wait to gift these reads to them, but meanwhile, I'm going to keep going with the series and enjoy every moment.Absolutely recommended.
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LibraryThing member lavaturtle
I somehow missed the Animorphs trend when I was a kid, so I decided to finally check it out. The writing style is definitely intended for a "middle grade" or young teen audience, but the story itself is still pretty interesting. And there's an obvious in-universe reason why a bunch of kids need to
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be in charge of saving the world, which is nice. The themes and ending are darker than I would have expected for a kids' book. The characters are a little under-defined, but it's a quick read -- I finished it in an evening -- and I'll probably read a few more of them (but not all 54!) Show Less