THE INVASION (ANIMORPHS # 1)
by K.A. Applegate
Apple
ISBN: 0590629778
Ages 9-up
184 pages

Did you ever wish upon a falling star? As THE INVASION opens, the ANIMORPHS kids spot a falling star when they take a shortcut by the mall. But this is no ordinary falling star --- it's actually a spaceship piloted by an alien! The alien is an Andelite named Elfangor and he is dying. Before he perishes, however, Elfangor tells the kids that Earth is under attack by the Yeerks, an evil alien race. He then bestows the power to morph on Jake, Rachel, Cassie, Tobias and MarcoNow they can become any animal they touch!

Though the kids don't really believe what has happened to them, the next day they all try morphing. Tobias is the first to give it a go and he successfully morphs into his cat, Dude. What happens next is a total thrill ride! The kids discover a Yeerk stronghold under their school. So now, in addition to learning how to use and control their powers, they must fight to save their friends and classmates. An absolute must read for anyone who wants to explore all of ANIMORPHS!

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THE BEGINNING (ANIMORPHS # 54)
by K.A. Applegate
Apple
ISBN: 0439115280
Ages 9-up
159 pages

For years, as the ANIMORPHS have fought against the parasitic Yeerks, all the while the human race remained blissfully unaware. THE BEGINNING sees a big change: humans have discoverd that they are under attack and are now desperate. Jake, Rachel, Tobias and Cassie must wage a final battle with the alien enemies --- with help from Ax and the Andelites, of course. Will this war end in victory for the Animorphs and Earth? I don't want to give too much away, but I will say one of the kids dies to save everyone else. Is there life after war?

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We do know there is life after ANIMOPRHS. As proof, here's a peek at the first REMNANTS book:

THE MAYFLOWER PROJECT
(REMNANTS # 1)
by K.A. Applegate
Apple
ISBN: 0590879979
Ages 9-up
172 pages

Just another day in Applegate land: a giant piece of space rock is heading towards the earth, destined to destroy everything and everyone. The year is 2011, and 80 humans have been picked to take a space shuttle from Earth into space, where they are expected to repopulate another planet. Nicknamed The Mayflower, this pitifully shabby piece of spacecraft is the only hope for humanity to continue. The chosen few must leave everything behind, knowing they can never return. Space is to be their new "home" until the ship's computers find a safe planet on which to land.

Since this is the beginning of the series, Applegate spends a lot of time establishing the characters. Who are they? For a start there is Jobs, a 14 year old computer geek, Yago, the totally aggro son of America's African American woman president and 2Face, a deformed, yet beautiful and very brave young girl. The 80 Earth pilgrims have many adventures and escapades awaiting them as they float through the great unknown. THE MAYFLOWER PROJECT is an engrossing beginning to a cool new series.

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THE MAYFLOWER PROJECT
(REMNANTS # 1)
by K.A. Applegate
Apple
ISBN: 0590879979
Ages 9-up
172 pages

EXCERPT

#1

"Can't they blow it up?"

"No."

D-Caf thought about that for a moment. He trusted Mark, respected him. But at the same time he had always thought his brother lacked imagination. Mark was brilliant, no one argued with that, but he was not an imaginative person.

D-Caf said, "In this old movie I saw on TV, I forget the name, something about an asteroid, anyway, they blew it up. Most of it, anyway."

"It's too big, Hamster. If they were lucky maybe they'd knock a chunk off of it."

D-Caf bit his lip, then bit his thumbnail. "Don't call me Hamster. My name is D-Caf, everyone calls me that. You can call me Harlin if you can't handle D-Caf. Not Hamster."

"Whatever." Mark returned his gaze to the monitor, gazing intently, working, worrying an idea, tapping fitfully at the keys, occasionally muttering a simple spoken command.

D-Caf watched with what minimal patience he could summon. His brother had just announced the end of the world, and he seemed almost uninterested, distracted by the streaming number series on the monitor.

"Aren't they at least going to try?" D-Caf pressed. "I mean, in this old movie they landed on the comet, I mean I think maybe it was a comet, and they were drilling holes down into it and putting nuclear bombs and-"

"Let it go, Hamster. Just let it go, all right?" Mark yelled. He slammed his hands down together on the desktop, sending a souvenir pencil holder from Ocean City crashing to the floor. He leaned over and picked it up, put the pencils back in, and returned the cup to its place.

"Look," Mark said, "it's too big, it's too fast, it's too close. It's about four days away. If you dug a hole right to the center of it and piled every bomb on Earth in there all you'd do is crack it in half and both halves would hit Earth. Or maybe you'd melt some of it, and then we'd get hit by two great big rocks plus a few million cubic yards of molten rock and maybe some nickel and iron. You got the picture? Last big rock that hit Earth drilled a hole about a mile deep and left a crater almost a mile across. You know how big that rock was? One-hundred-fifty feet. Not miles, feet. So guess what? The Rock is coming, the Rock is going to hit, and it's going to be like swinging a sledgehammer into a watermelon."

Excerpted from THE MAYFLOWER PROJECT (REMNANTS # 1) © Copyright 2001 by K.A. Applegate. Reprinted with permission by Scholastic. All rights reserved.

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