Book #12 in the series
Animorphs by K.A. Applegate.
Disclaimer: If you've heard of Animorphs and you're thinking "Aww, how
cute," maybe you should read my introduction to the first book
to see how wrong you are.
THE REACTION
Animorphs #12
by K.A. Applegate
Summarized Plot:
While trying to save a child who fell into a crocodile pit, Rachel feels ill when acquiring a croc's DNA. She is trying to help with a mission to stop an influential television star from becoming a Controller when she finds out she's got an allergy to the DNA she picked up and as a result she has emotion-triggered unwanted partial morphs. An unintended elephant morph wrecks part of her house, and she makes the news for "falling" into a crocodile pit and falling through her floor in the same day. Struggling to hide her morphing issue but forced to come clean once it spoils a mission, Rachel lies to her friends that she's already gone through the final process of "burping" the crocodile's DNA out, because she wants to go on a TV show since it will get her closer to the celebrity they're trying to investigate. Unfortunately her morphing sickness decides to descend upon her just before she's supposed to go on stage, and it ends up involving an entire crocodile coming out of her back, which she then has to fight in grizzly bear morph. Rachel is then free of her allergy, and in the process they also rid the celebrity of his infestation.
About this book:
Narrator: Rachel
New known controllers:
New morphs acquired:
- Jake: None
- Cassie: Human (Rachel)
- Marco: Llama
- Rachel: Crocodile
- Ax: None
Notable:
- This book had dated passages almost immediately. First, Cassie talks about buying a CD because Marco wanted to "make a tape." Second, she rattled off popular bands that her mother mixes up, naming Nine Inch Nails, the Fugees, Snoop Doggy Dog, and Boyz II Men. Not all of these folks were still recording ten years later, so kids who read them when they weren't in their prime wouldn't get these references. It's also a bit amusing that this book's made up celebrity, Jeremy Jason McCole, is so very popular that there must be twenty websites just about him. Twenty? Wow, must be a popular guy!
- And speaking of Jeremy Jason McCole, he appears to be a parody of Jonathan Taylor Thomas; the fictional celebrity is on a show called Power House, while the real star was on Home Improvement. Both had a "comedian guy who played his father" as well.
- And Barry and Cindy Sue are obviously supposed to be Regis and Kathie Lee.
- Ax recognizes a morph Visser Three uses as a Lebtin javelin fish. We don't know what "Lebtin" is, but Ax is excited about getting to see it even though it's deadly.
- A naturally occurring process called hereth illint is what happens when a person must expel an animal's DNA due to being allergic. We learn about it in this book when Rachel has to expel a crocodile from herself after finding out she's allergic to crocodile DNA. This allergy issue never happens to her again or anyone else mentioned in the book series.
Best lines:
Rachel: Brave isn't about not being afraid. It's about being scared to death and still not giving in.
Reporter: "Do you have any advice for other kids like yourself?"
Rachel: "Um, yes. My advice is don't fall into crocodile pits and don't have the house fall on you."
Marco: "It turned her into a wild animal! Several wild animals, actually! She became the alligator of l-o-o-o-v-e!"
Jake: "You're the one who blew the mission today. . . . Next time maybe you'll let the rest of us know when you're not in shape to handle a mission."
Next book: The Change, Animorphs #13