K.a Applegate Quotes

Pain is life. Life is pain.

I felt my throat tighten and constrict. My hearts ached with a pain I could not describe. I wondered if I were dying. I felt not sadness. I felt pity. For myself. For us all. We were children no longer. And we never would be again.

Love is pretty important. It's like wearing a suit of armor. It makes you strong.

Interesting. Claws and teeth and ferocity mixed with the subtlety to manipulate creatures larger than itself. A worthy creature.

I wanted so much to live. I wanted so much to stay and not to leave. In a moment no answer would matter to me, but just the same, I wanted to know what I guess any dying person wants to know. "Answer this, Ellimist: Did I . . . did I make a difference? My life, and my . . . my death . . . was I worth it? Did my life really matter?" "Yes," he said. "You were brave. You were strong. You were good. You mattered." "Yeah. Okay, then. Okay, then.

The monsters in our valley were destroyed that day. Only a very few survived. But that was all right, because we didn't need monsters anymore. We had become them.

Humans are always lost in time. They are constantly certain that "X" is later or earlier than they thought. I have never known a human to say, "Oh, look, it's exactly what time I thought it was.

It was a symbiotic relationship. Or codependent, whatever. They needed me to be the bad guy. And I needed them to be the good guys. See, if they were the good guys, and I was on their team, then that automatically made me a good guy, too. Even if I was different.

Be happy for me, and all those who fly free.

I said, mimicking the Disney World commercials.

It bothers you, doesn’t it? It bothers you when your victims don’t hate you.

From the rising of the sun to the setting, to its rising again, we place what is hard to endure with what is sweet to remember, and find peace.

I was going to have to hunt him down. I was going to hunt him down and destroy him. No, not destroy. That was a weasel word. It was vague, meaningless. I was going to kill him.

Power enough to win? No. Power enough to fight? Ah, yes. Just enough, little Jake, here is just enough power to imprison you in a cage of duty, to make you fight.

girls

There's nothing like a trip to the Yeerk pool to make you appreciate life and freedom.

Jake assumed that he would be the one to die. Marco had seen this instantly. He wasn't arguing in favor of the awful future we'd seen. He was arguing for the life of his best friend.

Elfangor laughed in my mind. "Victory without sacrifice? You know better than that." "You don't have to give up your principles to win. Isn't there always an alternative to sacrifice if you just keep your mind clear, and step back, and see it, and..." "You know better than that.

What book(s) changed your life and why? I could probably list books for days, so I’ll just list a few favorites: The Giver by Lois Lowry, Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle, the Animorphs series by K.A. Applegate, 1984 by George Orwell, the Bible, Gilead by Marilynne Robinson, and Juliet by Andras Visky (which is a play, but I think it still counts).

You will have noticed that I didn’t give this story a pat conclusion, and that’s deliberate. Katherine (my wife and frequent coauthor, K. A. Applegate) and I were among the earliest authors to encounter fan fiction via the internet. We’ve embraced it from the start. And some part of me hopes that fanfic writers will carry this story forward. Don’t ask me what happens to these characters next, because I don’t know. Will Dekka find love, perhaps with Simone? Will Cruz and Armo? How will Sam and Astrid do in this terrifying extension of earlier trauma? Maybe you have some ideas. I built the sandbox; if you want to bring your pails and shovels and play in it, cool. It’s one of the best things about writing for young people: you are my collaborators in imagination. If I leave blanks it’s because I know you’ll fill them.

People who argue about how smart whales are, or whether they are as smart as humans, kind of miss the point. Whales will never read books or build rockets or do algebra. In all those areas, humans are smarter. Humans are the great brains of planet Earth. But it isn’t necessary to believe whales are as smart as humans to believe that they are great. They don’t have to know words to sing songs. They don’t have to be anything but what they are to be magnificent. And even though I don’t really know what a soul is, I know this—if humans have them, then so do whales.

Then he drank the coffee. "Ahhh! Ohh! Oh, oh, oh, what? What? What is that?!" "What?" I asked, alarmed. I swiveled my head back and forth, looking for some danger. "A new sense. It... I cannot explain it. It is... it comes rom this mouth." He pointed at his mouth. "It happened when I drank thsi liquid. It was pleasant. Very pleasant." -Animorphs #5, The Predator page 19

If you've never been really afraid, let me tell you - it does things to you. It takes over your mind and your body. You want to scream. You want to run. You want to wet your pants. You want to throw yourself down on the ground and cry and beg please, please, please, please don't kill me!

Don't look," Rachel said to her. She put her arm around Cassie's shoulder and held her close. Then she reached for Tobias and took his hand. I guess you never really know someone till you see them scared. And even scared to death, with tears running down her face, Rachel had strength to spare.

Tobias said. I nodded and wiped away my tears. "Yeah," I said. "Until then, we fight.

Every power is checked by some other power. Every advantage is canceled by some disadvantage.

Okay, not funny ha-ha. More like funny weird.

Compared to a cat, the best gymnast who ever lived is like a big staggering cow or something.

Marco said.

But they didn't know what they were doing! They didn't know! My head was swimming. The Howlers were what someone else had made them. How do you hate a creature for doing what it has been taught to do?

I soon saw why humans prefer to draw an arbitrary line between themselves and other animals. Had humans been used as these animals were used the only appropriate descriptive word would have been 'torture.

Well, I'm guessing hat in about two centuries or so, humans will discover zero space and make transponders. Whatever they are. But in the meantime, I'm going to have a sandwich." -Animorphs #5, The Predator page 34

I wanted to throw up. But I would have had to get out of bed to run to the bathroom. And I felt like I never wanted to leave that bed again. I love animals. I've been raised all my life around them. I love nature. But what did I really know about it? I have been more animals than many people ever see in a lifetime. I have flown with the wings of an osprey. I've raced through the ocean in the body of a dolphin. I've seen the world through the eyes of an owl at night, and smelled the wind with all the keen senses of a wolf. I've flown upside down and backward in the body of a fly. Sometimes I go out into the far fields at night and become a horse and run through the grass. And everything I've been, every animal, is either killer or killed. In a million, million battles all around the world, on every continent, in every square inch of space, there was killing. From the great cats in Africa that cold-bloodedly search out the young and weak gazelles, to the terrible wars that are fought out in anthills and termite colonies. All of nature was at war. And, at the top of all that destruction, humans killed each other as well as other species, and now those same people have been enslaved and destroyed by the Yeerks. Nature at its finest. Cute, cuddly animals who slaughtered to live. The color of nature wasn't green. It was red. Blood-red.

I don't hate anybody," Tobias said calmly. "It's strange, but right now, I don't even hate the Yeerks. It's like, they're trying to survive. And we're trying to survive. I'm not really sure why it has to be an either-or thing.

They've survived without killing. Doesn't something about that make you jealous? Don't you wish we could say the same? Don't you wish Homo sapiens could face the universe and honestly say, "We do not kill. We don't enslave. We don't make war"?

Andalites, humans, there’s no difference. You’re both smug, moralizing, ”superior” races. You both live in beautiful worlds. You have hands and eyes, and the freedom to move about wherever you like. And you hate us for wanting all those same things.

... how often is it possible to see the big picture, really?" Rachel said. "Things happen fast. You just have to make the best decision you can and then go for it.... With me, it's about instinct. I knew we had to dig that tunnel. Turns out, I was right, but for the wrong reasons.

I was shaking and scared by the time I reached the office. It wasn't so much for me. I guess at some level I didn't care all that much if I lived or died right then. I just worried about blowing it somehow. For the others. For my friends. I guess it's true what they always say about combat soldiers. They may start out fighting for their country, but they end up fighting for the guy next to them in the foxhole. I didn't so much care about the fate of the human race at that moment. I wasn't human. I was a hawk. But I cared about Jake, and Cassie, and Marco, and Ax-man, and Rachel. Always Rachel.

Who has stopped worshiping us?" "Everyone in the old world," April said little harshly. "But of course they have, young woman. We left, didn't we? We came to Everworld. How can you expect people to worship a God they can't see from time to time?" "Yeah April," Jalil prodded, failing to suppress a smirk. "How can you?

So let me get this straight, - we are now making decisions based on Tobias and Cassie's dreams, right?" Marco said. "And yet my dreams are totally ignored. The fact that I once dreamed about staying home and watching TV in total safety, that means nothing, right?" "Right," Jake said flatly. -Animorphs #4, The Visitor page 16

Humans didn't have a great record of getting along with people different from themselves. Humans killed one another over skin color or eye shape or because they pray differently to the same god. Hard to imagine humans welcoming 7ft tall goblins into the local Boy Scout Troop when they couldn't even manage to tolerate some gay kid.

Ignorant fool! Humans have fought thousands of wars. Thousands! We as a race have fought a mere handful. They run straight into the bullets, Visser Three, again and again. Did you know that? They attack against insane odds. They defend what can't be defended. Outnumbered, outgunned, surrounded, hopeless, they will still fight, fight, fight till they are each and every one dead.

I saw Jake in the hallway at school. I pretended not to notice him. I saw Rachel, too. She had a dark look in her eyes. Like she hadn't slept. Like something was really wrong. Even Cassie seemed grim. It had gotten to all of us. It's not so easy to just forget terror. It's not easy to just ignore the memory of your leg being ripped off. Of being dismembered. Torn apart. One of these days, I thought, one of us is going to go crazy. Totally lock-me-up-in-a-rubber-room nutso. It was too much. This wasn't how life was supposed to be. One of us would snap. One of us would lost it. It could happen, even to strong people. -Animorphs #5, The Predator page 52

The Yeerks must not be allowed to think that they can use hostages against us." "Aren't you kind of missing the point?" Cassie said quietly. "I thought the point was to save Bek." "No," Toby said. "The point is to defeat the Yeerks. We must be strong. Once we free a Hork-Bajir, he must never be taken again." "Do you think the Yeerks will respect you? They won't. They'll come after you harder," Cassie pointed out. Toby nodded. "That is true. But the Hork-Bajir will respect themselves. A fool is strong so that others will see. A wise person is strong for himself. The Hork-Bajir will be strong for the Hork-Bajir. That way, when the Yeerks are all gone, we will still be strong.

My first reaction was that someone had fused a person and a deer together. The creature had a head and shoulders and arms that were more or less where they should have been, though the skin was a pale shade of blue. But below that he had fur, a mix of blue and tan, covering a four-legged body that really did look like it belonged to a deer, or maybe a small horse. He ducked his head out the doorway and I could see that even the fairly normal-looking parts of him weren’t all that normal. For a start, he had no mouth, just three vertical slits. And then there were his eyes. Two of them were where they should have been, although they were a glittery green color that was kind of shocking. But the real shock was the other eyes. He had what seemed like horns, only on the top of each horn was an eye. The horns could move, twisting to point the eyes front and back or up and down. I thought the eyes were bad, until I saw the tail. It was like a scorpion’s tail, thick and powerful-looking. On the end was a wickedly curved, very sharp-looking horn or stinger.

But at that moment the most incredible part of an incredible day happened. My mind, human, dolphin, both minds, opened up like a flower opening to the sun. And a silent, but somehow huge, voice filled my head, it spoke no words. It simply filled every corner of my mind with a simple emotion. Gratitude. The whale was telling me that it was grateful. We had saved it. Now it would save our schoolmate. I told Rachel and Jake. ... The humpback rose beneath a sputtering Marco. The broad leathery back lifted him up. And when I looked again, I saw Marco, sitting nervously on what could have been a small island, high and dry above the choppy waves. ... The whale called me to him. Listen, little one, he commanded, in a silent voice that seemed to fill the universe. I listened. I listened to his wordless voice in my head. I felt like it went on forever. Tobias said later it was only ten minutes. But during that ten minutes, I was lost to the world. I was being shown a small part of the whale's thoughts. he had lived eighty migrations. He had many mates, many mothers, who had died in their turn. His children traveled the oceans of the word. He had survived many battles, traveled to the far southern ice and the far northern ice. He remembered the days when men hunted his kind from ships that belched smoke. He remembered the songs of the many fathers who had gone before. As others would remember his song. But in all he had seen and all he had known, he had never seen one of the little ones become a human. Marco, I realized. He means Marco. And little ones? Is that what the whales call dolphins? We are not truly... little ones. No. You are something new in the sea. But not the only new thing. I wasn't sure what he was telling me. He spoke only in feelings, in a sort of poetry of emotion, without words. Part of it was in song. Part of it I could only sense the same way I could sense echolocation. Something new? -Animorphs #4, The Visitor page 41

It's funny, you know. We're free. We make choices. We weigh things in our minds, consider everything carefully, use all the tools of logic and education. And in the end, what we mostly do is what we have no choice but to do. Makes you think, why bother? But you bother because you do, that's why. Because you're a DNA-brand computer running Childhood 1.0 software. They update the software but the changes are always just around the edges. You have the brain you have, the intelligence, the talents, the strengths and weaknesses you have, from the moment they take you out of the box and throw away the Styrofoam padding. But you have the fears you picked up along the way. The terrors of age four or six or eight are never suspended, just layered over. The dread I'd felt so recently, a dread that should be so much greater because the facts had been so much more horrible, still could not diminish the impact of memories that had been laid down long years before. It's that way all through life, I guess. I have a relative who says she still gets depressed every September because in the back of her mind it's time for school to start again. She's my great-aunt. The woman is sixty-seven and still bumming over the first day of school five-plus decades ago. It's sad in a way because the pleasures of life get old and dated fast. The teenage me doesn't get the jolt the six-year-old me got from a package of Pop Rocks. The me I've become doesn't rush at the memories of the day I skated down a parking ramp however many years ago. Pleasure fades, gets old, gets thrown out with last year's fad. Fear, guilt, all that stuff stays fresh. Maybe that's why people get so enraged when someone does something to a kid. Hurt a kid and he hurts forever. Maybe an adult can shake it off. Maybe. But with a kid, you hurt them and it turns them, shapes them, becomes part of the deep, underlying software of their lives. No delete. I don't know. I don't know much. I feel like I know less all the time. Rate I'm going, by the time I'm twenty-one I won't know a damned thing. But still I was me. Had no choice, I guess. I don't know, maybe that's bull and I was just feeling sorry for myself. But, bottom line, I dried my eyes, and I pushed my dirty, greasy hair back off my face, and I started off down the road again because whatever I was, whoever I was, however messed up I might be, I wasn't leaving April behind. Maybe it was all an act programmed into me from the get-go, or maybe it grew up out of some deep-buried fear, I mean maybe at some level I was really just as pathetic as Senna thought I was. Maybe I was a fake. Whatever. Didn't matter. I was going back to the damned dragon, and then I was getting April out, and everything and everyone else could go screw themselves. One good thing: For now at least, I was done being scared.

You work for 30, 40 years. 40 freaking years getting in the car, driving through traffic, dealing with BS, driving home, and taking the kids to buy sneakers?” I realized April had come over. How long she had been listening, I didn't know. “ And you don't want all that?”, She asked me. “Maybe . Someday,” I said. “I don't even know if I'll go to college, but my mom's looking at an MBA for me, and I go along, mostly. Why? Because I care about business? No, because everyone's on me about my future. Got to get the good grades so you can get a good college so you can get a good business school so you can get on with some big firmware you Shuffle papers and tap on the keyboard That's it, man, that's your life so you get old and wonder what the hell you did with your life. That's not life. Not for a man, anyway.” April cocked an eyebrow. “The way you described it, it doesn't sound like life for anyone. That won't be my life. You leave it all the good stuff: friends and family. Kids. The things you love to do." I waved my hand, dismissing it all. “There used to be an adventure. You know? Going west in a wagon train, or going to war, or exploring some place no human being had ever been before. Now what do we have? Look at Sven. Look at that guy. He's my age, look at his life. Then look at mine or Jalil’s or your’s.” April barked out a laugh. “He can barely talk because someone rammed a sword through his mouth. “ I nodded. “You know the difference between him and me? We're both about 16. But he's a man. I'm a boy.” April made a face, angry, dismissive, frustrated. “What is it with you guys? Is it the testosterone? You know, David, it's the dawn of the 21st century and you live in the richest, most powerful Nation on Earth where there's almost no one starving and no one's slave and no one invading to murder and pillage and rape. And finally, finally after thousands of years of men slaughtering men, women, and children over nonsense, we have a few places on Earth where there's a little piece, a little decency a few places where most people get to be born and live their lives without total horror being rained down on them, and your reaction is, ‘this has to stop!

Still, we weren’t happy. We knew something was wrong. We broke down our cities, divided the land, and went back to life in simple family scoops.

The ironic part about all this was that it wasn't the first time I'd been nearly digested. But that's another story.

Whoever says TV isn't worthwhile isn't watching the right shows.

Disney has nothing on the Animorphs.

I've morphed a wolf, so I was prepared. I knew the hearing would be amazing. I knew the sense of smell would be incredible. But what I didn't expect was the dog's mind. It was not like the wolf. The wolf was a cool, intelligent, ruthless killer. The dog was just a big goof.

Don't pity me, Elfangor. I am glad I didn't die. Any life is better than none. And no matter how awful things seem, there is always meaning and purpose to be found.

I could see Rachel well enough, though. We were made from the same rat's DNA, so we were basically the same rat. I could see her long, naked, pink tale. That tail is the reason people hate rats, but think squirrels are cute.

A blind falcon doesn't fly far.

Your problem isn't with people seeing you too well, it's with people hearing you too well. You look like a fairly smart guy. Then you open your mouth..." -Animorphs #2, The Visitor page 11

Now I'm really mad at the Yeerks," Marco said. "They're getting in the way of my showbiz career. I could be a millionaire. I could be trading funny lines with Dave. I could have beautiful Hollywood supermodels all over me." "Uh-huh," I said, with a wink at Cassie. "Lots of women love animals. But sooner or later you'd have to change back into your actual self, Marco. An then, boom, they'd be outta there." -Animorphs #2, The Visitor, page 13

We need to find another way to get at them," I said angrily. "Get at who?" Marco asked suspiciously. "The French, Marco," I said sarcastically. "Who do you think? The Yeerks, duh." "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Marco said. "We tried that, remember? We went down into the Yeerk pool after them and got our butts kicked. Yeerks ten, humans zero." ... "We gave them a reason to be afraid at least." "Yeah, they're terrified of us. Visser Three probably can't sleep at night, he's so worried about five kids," Marco said sarcastically. "Look, Visser Three doesn't think we're a threat. He thinks we're lunch." -Animorphs #2, The Visitor page 15

Jake had to stay home," Marco said. "Some thing about his dad grounding him." "Why would his dad ground him?" "How do I know?" Marco said, sounding grouchy. "You know how parents are. Don't ask me to explain them." -Animorphs #2, The Visitor page 67

I asked. -Animorphs #4, The Visitor page 22

Okay," Jake said, "Here's what we know. Or at least, what we think we know." We were all at Rachel's house again. It was a few hours after I had gone to see Marco. Tobias was perched on the windowsill. He didn't feel all that comfortable being inside for long. He liked the feel of the wind and the pen air. ... "Second, Cassie believes she can find this Andalite, thanks to the information from the whale." Everyone kept a straight face for about ten seconds. Then, all at once, everyone cracked up. "Information from a whale," Marco repeated, giggling. Tobias asked. -Animorphs #4, The Visitor page 46

I have a more important question," Rachel said. "How do we know when we're there? You know, our destination." Jake made a "who knows?" face. "I figure this ship is going like, what, twenty miles per hour? Figure an hour, and that puts us twenty miles out, right?" Rachel pointed a finger at her forehead and said, "Jake's a total mathematical genius. One hour at twenty miles per hour. Right away he figures out that's twenty miles." -Animorphs #4, The Visitor page 51

Marco? Are you with us?" I asked. "Oh sure. Where else would I be? What could possibly be more fun than running around the sand dunes getting shot at and then jumping into the ocean and turning in to a trout, who, incidentally, can't live in saltwater? I wouldn't miss it or anything." -Animorphs #4, The Visitor page 21

Okay," Jake said, Here's what we know. Or at least, what we think we know." We were all at Rachel's house again. It was a few hours after I had gone to see Marco. Tobias was perched on the windowsill. He didn't feel all that comfortable being inside for long. He liked the feel of the wind and the open air. ... "Second, Cassie believes she can find this Andalite, thanks to the information from the whale." Everyone kept a straight face for about ten seconds. Then, all at once, everyone cracked up. "Information from a whale," Marco repeated, giggling. "Have our lives gotten really weird, or is it just me?" Tobias asked. -Animorphs #4, The Visitor page 46

Jake, I don't want to be a bug. I've been a gorilla, an osprey, a dolphin, a seagull, a trout, of all things, a lobster... and I'm probably forgetting a few. Gorilla was fun. Dolphin was fun. Osprey was fun. Ant? Not fun. Basically, bugs are a bad idea." Jake shrugged. "I was a flea. That was no big thing. ... "Jake? Do you ever listen to yourself?" -Animorphs #5, The Predator page 36

Scientists believe that sharks are one of the oldest species of animals still in existence. Nature built them as perfect predators. Perfect killing machines. Nature hasn't had to revise or update them much. They were built right the first time. Dolphins are very different. Scientists say that millions of years ago, dolphins were land animals. Sea mammals not very different from humans and other mammals. They evolved their way back into the ocean. Part of that evolution included learning to cope with predators, with killer whales and sharks. I don't now what sea the Taxxon race evolved in. I don't know what natural predators they faced there. But they were not ready for this ocean. They were not ready to go one-on-one with the masters of Earth's deep seas. They were no match for dolphin or shark. -Animorphs #4, The Visitor page 69

Must I carry this?" he asked, indicating his empty coffee cup. "No, you can just throw it away." Bad choice of words. Ax threw the coffee cup. He threw it hard. It hit one of the cashiers in the head. "Hey!" Sorry, it was an accident, man," I yelped. -Animorphs #5, The Predator page 20

Senna reached for David's hand. I got up, dragged my chair over, and shoved in between them. This brought a faint nod from Merlin. ~Everworld, Enter the Enchanted

Life, even in Everworld, wasn't a romance novel. I guess romance writers imagine that being rescued is a big rush, a kind of thrill that will just send you into a state of uncontrollable desire. But here I was, all alone with a shockingly handsome man who had just saved my life. A knight, no less. And mainly I just felt tired.

The knights nodded with exaggerated casualness, showing respect for the wizard but not fear. Or so they thought. The fear came in the way they parted for the old man, took a half step back without really thinking about it. That's one of the things you learn to do when you study acting. You watch the nonverbal cues. That's what gives a performance depth. The knights were all like, "Hey, Merlin, what's up?" But get past the easy words and bluff tone and you saw faces drawn back, bodies turned at an angle to protect the vitals, an unconscious cringe.

There is something about that moment when you decide to run away. The recognition that you are in danger. That the danger is too great to face. Or that at least it represents too great a risk for too little payoff. In that moment you become prey. And all the instincts of prey come rushing up from the deep brain. Fear. And worse, growing, accelerating fear.

Jake, you are our leader. You are the one who can bring us all together and help us defeat the Controllers. We have the ability to be much more than we are, to have the stealth of a cat, and... and the eyes f eagles, and the sense of smell of a dog, and... and the speed of a horse or a cheetah. We're going to need it all, if we have any hope of holding out against the Controllers." I wanted it not to be true. I wanted none of it to be true. But I knew that it was. I nodded slowly. It felt like I was agreeing to something awful. Like I was volunteering for a trip to the dentist or something much worse. It felt like a million pounds of weight had just landed on my shoulders.

Jake, you are our leader. You are the one who can bring us all together and help us defeat the Controllers. We have the ability to be much more than we are, to have the stealth of a cat, and... and the eyes of eagles, and the sense of smell of a dog, and... and the speed of a horse or a cheetah. We're going to need it all, if we have any hope of holding out against the Controllers." I wanted it not to be true. I wanted none of it to be true. But I knew that it was. I nodded slowly. It felt like I was agreeing to something awful. Like I was volunteering for a trip to the dentist or something much worse. It felt like a million pounds of weight had just landed on my shoulders. - Animorphs #1, The Invasion page 31

I waited till the bell rang for first period, which was English class. When everyone else was out of the hallway, I just climbed into my locker. I tried to act cool about it, just in case anyone was watching. -Animorphs #1, The Invasion page 60

We have to do something," Rachel said. "Yeah, let's rush right down there," Marco said. "Then it can be us screaming." I realized I had lost my appetite for nachos. "Marco, you can't just ignore what's going on," Rachel said. "Sure I can," he said. "All I have to do is remind myself that hey, guess what? i don't want to die." -Animorphs #1, The Invasion page 65

Only Cassie had remained silent. She was looking dreamily off over the heads of the mall crowd. "You know, back in the old says - I mean, the real, real old days - the Africans, the early Europeans, the Native Americans... they all believed animals had spirits. And they would call on those spirits to protect them from evil. They would ask the spirit of the fox for his cunning. They'd ask the spirit of the eagle for his sight. They would ask the lion for his strength. I guess what we're doing is sort of basic. Even though it was Andalite technology that made it possible. We're still just scared little humans, trying to borrow the mind of the fox, and the eyes of the eagle... or the hawk," she added, smiling at Tobias. "And the strength of the lion. Just like thousands of years ago, we're calling on the animals to help protect s from evil." "Will their strength be enough?" wondered. "I don't know," Cassie admitted solemnly. "It's like all the basic forces of planet Earth are being brought into the battle." Marco rolled his eyes. "Nice story, Cassie. But we're five normal kids. Up against the Yeerks. If it was a football game, who would you bet on? We're toast." Don't be so sure," Cassie said. "We're fighting for Mother Earth. She was some tricks up her sleeves." "Good grief," Marco said. "Let's all buy Birkenstocks and go hug some trees." -Animorphs #1, The Invasion page 66

I think he's noticed us," Marco said. "I think he knows we're here, Jake. I think hes looking right at us! Look at his teeth!" "Don't freak! I have an idea. The morphing. If I acquire him, it'll put him in a trance." "Acquire? Acquire what? You can't acquire anything about him. He's the acquirer, and your'e the acquiree. He's going to acquire your butt for dinner! He's going to acquire you and spit out the bones." -Animorphs #1, The Invasion page 77

I drifted over to the bulletin board and read '"Don't think there are no crocodiles just because the water is calm" - Malayan Proverb.' Just beside that was, "' If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the results of a hundred battles," - Sun Tzu." It made me a little sad. In the good old days, Rachel would have had a bunch of quotes about being a good person or whatever. It just showed how much our lives had changed. In a very short time we had all grown accustomed to a world of fear and danger. We had arrived at Rachel's house separately. We had each checked to make sure we weren't being followed. We had planed the afternoon in advance to be sure that Rachel's mom and her two sisters would be out. We had even had Tobias fly over the area looking for anything unusual. That's what our lives had become. That and quotations full of paranoia and battle. -Animorphs #4, The Message page 10

I guess no one else watched the news last night?" "I was busy watching my taped reruns of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood," Marco said, giving Rachel a sly look. "Last night it was the one where it was a beautiful day in the neighborhood." Jake rolled his eyes up to the ceiling, the way he'd done a million times before when Marco said something irrelevant or annoying. -Animorphs #4, The Message page 11

"What?" I didn't see what he was pointing at. "You have a word for something like that?" I asked? -Animorphs #4, The Visitor page 63

He started to move on, but I held his arm tightly. "Wait, wait. I don't think I understand you. What do you mean, they eliminate species?" "They eliminate them. They will make Earth as much like the Yeerk home world as possible. They will destroy most of the plants and all of the animal species except those they eat." I let go of his arm. I rocked back and grabbed at the air for balance. I felt like I'd been hit by a far. "No," I whispered. "That can't be. You're just saying that because you don't like Yeerks." The others were staring. No one was moving. Ax looked around at us. His eyes narrowed. "Don't you know? Don't you know whom you're fighting?" "We know they take over people's minds," Rachel said weakly. "Yes. And that is one of their great crimes. But the Yeerks are more than that. Yeerks are killers of worlds. Murderers of all life. Hated and feared throughout the galaxy. They are a plague that spreads from world to world, leaving nothing but desolation and slavery and misery in their wake." -Animorphs #4, The Visitor page 64

More clothing? Clo. Clo-theeeeing. Clo-theeing?" Ax said. "Ax? Dont do that," I said. "What? Wha wha wha. Tuh." "That. Where you play with the sounds. Just say what you need to say, and stop." ... "People are going to think he's weird," Rachel said, sounding exasperated. "Fortunately, it's the mal on a Saturday morning," I pointed out. "It'll be full of weird people." "Not this weird," Rachel said. "This could be trouble." "isn't it a little late for you to admit that I was right and this idea is insane?" I saked her. "Besides, no need to worry. I'll be there." "Great, then it's sure to be a disaster." ... "So far so good," Jake said as we headed into the mall. I rolled my eyes. "Jake? Do me a favor. Don't ever say 'so far, so good.' The only time ayone ever says 'so far, s good' is right before everything blows up in his face." "So far. So far. Farrrrrr. Faaaar," Ax said, trying out the sounds. "So. Sssso far so so so good." "Oh, man," I said. -Animorphs #5, The Predator page 16

Elfangor laughed in my mind. "You don't have to give up your principles to win. Isn't there always an alternative to sacrifice if you just keep your mind clear, and step back, and see it, and..."

corn

Cassie said.

It was an advertisement for a movie: King Kong vs. Gudzilla. Yes, Gudzilla.

Tobias was actually grinning, but thats Tobias for you. He's never scared of weird stuff. It's the normal stuff he can't stand.

Visser Three thinks he has won our long, private war. But I've left a little surprise behind.

I open my mind in the ritual of death

They can be in anyone. Your best friend. Your favorite teacher. The mayor of your town. Your brother. Sister. Mother. Father. Anyone

dad’s

There was a moment of expectant silence. Then Marco said, she said. And then, in true Rachel style, she yelled, Marco said.

We have to take that weapon and blow it up. Quiet and fast. We want to be in there before anyone has a chance to react.” There was a moment of expectant silence. Then Marco said, “Rachel! What's keeping you?” “Oh, I forgot,” she said. And then, in true Rachel style, she yelled, “Let's do it!” “Thank you,” Marco said. “We can't run off on another idiot suicide mission without the blessings of the always insane Xena, Warrior Princess.

There was a moment of expectant silence. Then Marco said, she said. And then, in true Rachel style, she yelled, Marco said.

We were supposed to be relaxed, not thinking it could be a trap. But I'll tell you something. If Visser Three thought for certain that he could catch the "Andalite Bandits," as he thought of us, he wouldn't let the public get in his way. He wouldn't need to send in the Hork-Bajir. He could machine-gun the place using human-Controllers. That would have made the news, but no one would have thought it was all that strange. I guess that says something about the condition of the human race, with or without aliens.

He's so depressed," Tobias commented. "Who's depressed? Cassie's dad?" "No, the hawk. I mean, I think he knows they aren't trying to hurt him or anything, but he can't stand being cooped up there while his wing heals." Tobias's eyes darkened. "It's terrible when birds have to be locked up in cages. They should be free." "Yeah, free the birds," Marco commented sarcastically. "I'll get the bumper stickers printed up.

Sure, I was ready. Why wouldn’t I be ready to have a hawk hand me a mouse? Just your normal kind of thing to deal with.

Maybe since these are just morphs to us, maybe we can turn… Off, the psychic thing?” Then, one by one, I felt their minds close to me. And I closed my own. It seemed suddenly very lonely, as we grabbed the water jets, and rode away through the brilliantly alive sea. Suddenly very lonely.