Plot summary
Jake discovers a Yeerk website, but is unsure of its legitimacy. He and the other Animorphs can't tell if it's a Yeerk trap, or a place for potential Yeerk-fighters to meet. The Animorphs decide to travel to the Web Access America headquarters, a two-hour flight from their own city. The kids can't afford plane tickets, so they morph flies with Tobias acquiring a fly morph. After Marco dabbles in a first-class passenger's Salisbury steak, the occupants on the plane are alerted. A flight attendant swats Jake, nearly killing him. A shaken Jake survives and tries to hide his fear, but Cassie takes notice.
At Web Access America, Marco and Ax hack into the WAA records and discover the identities of some of the screen names on the Yeerk website. They need a distraction, so the children morph and create a spectacle for anyone working in the offices. One of the users from the website is the founder of WAA himself, Joe Bob Fenestre - the second richest man in the country. On the way back to the airport, Cassie objects to Jake morphing the fly again. Jake untruthfully tries to convince the others that he has no issue morphing the fly, getting him into an argument with Cassie. Their relationship is strained for the time being.
Back home, Jake needs to form a new plan to infiltrate Joe Bob Fenestre's multi-million dollar compound. Cassie objects, instead wanting to save a young child on the Yeerk website going by the screen name of Gump from confessing to his Controller father what he knows. Jake and the others overrule Cassie, deciding that Fenestre is the more pressing matter. Jake, without any prior intelligence or preparation, sends himself and the Animorphs to the billionaire's property. They are immediately attacked by gun-toting humans and pack hounds, and Rachel is shocked unconscious by a bug zapper. Ax is captured by the dogs. Jake and the others, shaken, need to find another way to break in. Jake travels to The Gardens zoo complex, and acquires a rhinoceros morph. He morphs and breaks through the entrance to the Fenestre mansion, impervious to human shotguns. The others follow, and morph their standard battle morphs.
They find Fenestre, along with Rachel and Ax in a suspended time state known as "biostasis". The Yeerk controlling Fenestre explains to Jake, Cassie, Marco and Tobias that he is Visser Three's twin brother - Esplin 9466 Lesser. Visser Three, unwilling to share his power with his sibling, banished him to Earth as a lowly telephone operator. Esplin, combining his Yeerk technical knowledge with his host's human knowledge, created a web service that would serve as a vast pool of information for the Yeerk invasion. The Visser was enraged, and has been plotting to kill him ever since.
Jake asks Esplin how he survived without a Yeerk pool. Esplin unemotionally explains that he finds human-Controllers on the Yeerk forum. Every three days, he has them kidnapped, splits the hosts' heads open, and has his human host feed on the Yeerk inside. Fenestre admits that he is a cannibal serial killer. A horrified Cassie tries to attack him, but Jake stops her. He'd rather allow Esplin to kill as many Yeerks as he could - even if it means sacrificing the host. Cassie is enraged at and disgusted with Jake. Jake threatens Esplin, and they leave with Rachel and Ax.
Jake later meets with Cassie, who'd been talking to Gump, from the Yeerk website chat, at his elementary school. The saddened Cassie tells Gump never to trust his father. Jake tries to comfort her, but to no avail. Later on, Jake watches a news report that Fenestre's house had been burned down. He hints that he may have burned down the house out of disgust for the cannibal killer.
The Invasion, published in 1996 and written by K. A. Applegate, is the first book in the Animorphs series. It is narrated by Jake.
The Beginning is the 54th and final book in the Animorphs series. Unlike other Animorphs books in the main series, but similar to the Megamorphs, all characters conduct narration instead of just one.
The Answer is the 53rd and penultimate book in the Animorphs series. It is the final book (fully) narrated by Jake and is the final book to fully be narrated by only one character.
The Message, published in 1996 and written by K. A. Applegate, is the fourth book in the Animorphs series. It is narrated by Cassie.
<Megamorphs #1> The Andalite's Gift is the first book in the <Megamorphs> series, a set of companion books to the Animorphs series. With respect to continuity, it takes place between Book #7: The Stranger and Book #8: The Alien. The Andalite's Gift was originally published as two parts and later put together as one book as #2 of Megamorphs came out.
Megamorphs #4: Back to Before is the fourth and final book in the Megamorphs series, a spinoff of the Animorphs series. With respect to the continuity in the Animorphs books, it takes place between The Other (#40) and The Familiar (#41).
The Change is the 13th book in the Animorphs series, written by K.A. Applegate. It is narrated by Tobias.
The Unknown is the fourteenth book in the Animorphs series, written by K.A. Applegate. It is narrated by Cassie.
The Underground is the 17th book in the Animorphs series, written by K.A. Applegate. It is narrated by Rachel.
The Decision is the 18th book in the Animorphs series, written by K.A. Applegate. It is narrated by Ax.
The Discovery is the 20th book in the Animorphs series, written by K.A. Applegate. It is narrated by Marco. It is the first book in the David trilogy.
The Threat is the 21st book in the Animorphs series, written by K.A. Applegate. It is narrated by Jake. It is the second book in the David trilogy.
The Solution is the 22nd book in the Animorphs series, written by K.A. Applegate, published first on January 1st, 1998, and then released in October 1998. The book is narrated by Rachel. It is the last book in the David trilogy.
The Sickness is the 29th book in the Animorphs series, authored by K. A. Applegate. It is known to have been ghostwritten by Melinda Metz. It is narrated by a character named Cassie.
The Sacrifice is the 52nd book in the Animorphs series, written by K. A. Applegate. It is known to have been ghostwritten by Kim Morris. It is the final book to be (fully) narrated by Ax.
The Arrival is the 38th book in the Animorphs series, written by K.A. Applegate. It has been ghostwritten by Kim Morris. It is narrated by Ax.
The Revelation is the 45th book in the Animorphs series, written by K.A. Applegate. It is known to have been ghostwritten by Ellen Geroux. It is the first book in the ten-book arc that finalized the story of the Animorphs. It is narrated by Marco.
The Diversion, published in 2001 and written by K. A. Applegate, is the 49th book in the Animorphs series. It is known to have been ghostwritten by Lisa Harkrader. It is the final book (fully) narrated by Tobias.
The Weakness is the 37th book in the Animorphs series, written by K.A. Applegate. It is known to have been ghostwritten by Elise Smith. It is narrated by Rachel.
Animorphs is a science fantasy series of children's books written by Katherine Applegate and her husband Michael Grant, writing together under the name K. A. Applegate, and published by Scholastic. It is told in first person, with all six main characters taking turns narrating the books through their own perspectives. Horror, war, dehumanization, sanity, morality, innocence, leadership, freedom, family, growing up, and morphing into animals are the core themes of the series.
