29 June 2020 ANIMORPHS GRAPHIC NOVEL #1: THE INVASION by K.A. Applegate and Michael Grant and Chris Grine, ill., Scholastic Graphix, October 2020, 240p., ISBN: 978-1-3382-22648-5

“When I dance they call me Macarena

and the boys say que soy buena”

-- “Macarena” by Los del Rio, the #1 song of 1996, the year the first ANIMORPHS books were published.

In early 1996, while not dancing the Macarena, I was busy reading an advance reader copy of K.A. Applegate’s ANIMORPHS: THE INVASION, I did not yet possess an email address or a review site on which to talk about books. I’d never been to a book convention. I’d just been promoted to Children’s Buyer for a regional bookstore chain. The audience for my “picks” was made up of the booksellers I worked with and the stores’ customers. 

It was pretty damn exciting to have an In-Box at work where stacks of advance reading copies would appear.

I was blown away by ANIMORPHS: THE INVASION. I read it in one sitting, ordered a bunch of them, and personally sold many copies that were read by young people who are now entering their thirties. 

One of many reasons why recent months have been strange is that the pandemic caused warehouses to close and the regular flow of review copies to dwindle to a trickle. This past weekend would normally be the height of the American Library Association's annual meeting which, for the first time, is happening virtually. The conference is traditionally the opening bell for the fall, children's publishing's biggest season. My own piece of ALA’s virtual festivities arrived Friday night: a large box of fall ARCs from Scholastic. Inside was the upcoming graphic novel version of the 1996 ANIMORPHS: THE INVASION, 

“Go now, but remember this warning…

Never remain in morphed form for more than two of your Earth hours.

Never!

This is the greatest danger of the morphing.

To remain any longer than the two hours will leave you unable to return to your human form.”

I just spent my morning traveling back to 1996 and the five kids who cross paths with a dying alien and gain the power to morph into animals. Their mission is to save the planet from the aliens who have been quietly invading the minds of humans. 

The Controllers.

Twenty-four years later, this new version of ANIMORPHS: THE INVASION is just as riveting. But now the story comes with awesome graphic novel illustrations. I guarantee you that in a few months, there are going to be some big-time second-generation Animorph fans sprouting up. They will be clamoring to go up into their grandparents’ attics to check out the originals.

“I guess this is me from now on.” 

I just donned my mask, hiked over to the nearest mailbox, and mailed my advance copy to my grandson to read.

Richie Partington, MLIS

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