One of my favorite books is Animorphs #7: The Stranger. It’s about five kids who have the power to morph, in other words, they can change into any animal they touch.
By touch,” I mean that they absorb a strand of the animal’s DNA. From the DNA, they are able to create an exact copy of the animal and take on its form. They can change into any animal they touch. There is a series of books about this. In this particular book, the characters find an entrance to a Yeerk pool, which is a necessity for their alien enemies, the Yeerks. Once inside, they creep around as roaches to see if they can pick up any information about the location of the Yeerks’ Kandrona. The Kandrona is a portable version of the Yeerks’ home sun, which is also a necessity, so the characters can destroy it.
However, they don’t count on being a Taxxon delicacy. The Taxxons are allies of the Yeerks. Just as the Animorphs – Jake, Rachel, Marco, Cassie, and their alien friend Ax – are about to be devoured, time itself stops, except for the Animorphs. Then they meet an Ellimist, a creature who is woven into time and space itself. The Ellimist stopped time to ask the Animorphs to decide the fate of the human race. They can either go to another planet and leave Earth to the Yeerks, or they can stay and fight. When the decision to stay is made, the Ellimist puts them back on the Taxxon’s tongue.
Somehow, they manage to get out of the Yeerk pool in one piece. A couple of days later, they meet in the woods around Cassie’s house and have a conversation about reconsidering the Ellimist’s offer. Suddenly, they are zapped into a possible future. There, they walk and look around freely since everyone is a Controller, a creature controlled by a Yeerk. Yeerks are parasites.
They infest a creature’s brain and take over its body. The creature is still present, but it is rendered helpless. Back to the story. While the Animorphs are walking around, they come across a massive Yeerk pool.
It was more like a lake. You could have ridden a boat around in it and not looked out of place. A Bug Fighter lands near the Yeerk pool. Rachel, an Animorph, feels drawn to the Bug Fighter, so she and Ax walk over to it. Since everyone thinks Ax is Visser One, the most powerful Yeerk, everyone stays out of their way.
Then the real Visser One steps out, along with another Rachel who is a Controller. After Rachel knocks Visser One down as a bear, they are transported back to the present by the Ellimist. That night, Rachel has a dream and figures out where the Kandrona is. After gathering everyone, they go to the EGS Tower. Next, they morph into their dangerous animals, break in, and go to the top floor. There, they go into a room where eight Hork Bajir Controllers are guarding the Kandrona.
Hork Bajir are aliens taken over by the Yeerks. After a huge battle, the Animorphs go into another room where the Kandrona is. Then they go home. Bibliography: Animorphs, The Strategy.
