Book #22 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 SOLUTION
Animorphs #22 (a.k.a. the third book in the "David Trilogy")
by K.A. Applegate
Summarized Plot:
Rachel is summoned by Jake to help fight David, who has supposedly killed Tobias and is battling Jake, lion against tiger. Rachel wonders what this means about Jake's perception of her--why it's HER who's called in case something terrible has to be done. This bothers Rachel throughout the book--during other battles with David, during their attempts to bust up the Yeerks' plans for the world leaders' banquet, during a disturbing altercation when they find out David is impersonating their cousin Saddler. Realizing that David has got them in a tight spot and willing to negotiate about giving him the blue box, they have to come up with a plan to stop David, but because of his ego they have to make him think he's controlling the show. Pretending to be plotting against him and pretending to be found out is very difficult when they actually ARE plotting against him. Ultimately, they have to use Rachel's willingness to do brutal things to win this fight against their first Animorphs convert.
About this book:
Narrator: Rachel
New known controllers:
- Some police officers at the mall
- Guards at the hotel
New morphs acquired:
Notable:
- Rachel says that the lumpy, rocky island makes her nervous for some reason, and this is foreshadowing considering what later happens on that island. Cassie is usually the one who sort-of foresees significance before it can be known, but here Rachel is doing it.
- It's not said what happened to the real Saddler's body. It seems odd that David could get rid of it as easily as he did.
- At the end of the book Rachel's narration says "We never heard from David again," with a qualifier about how some people heard ghostlike thought-speak coming from where David was stranded. But if you look at a much later book, that most certainly shows that this was NOT the last they heard of David.
Best lines:
Rachel: "Marco. You know you're a toad?"
Marco: "Kiss me and I'll become a prince. I'll be The Prince Formerly Known As Toad."
Rachel: I guess if you think about it, hanging out with a bunch of politicians talking about peace must be kind of dull. After a couple days of that, maybe you kind of welcome massive, enraged animals barging through your living room.
Rachel: "I mean, you don't want to think it could happen to you. So you have to come up with excuses. Ways it could never happen to you. You end up blaming the person who got hurt. Because then you don't have to think about what if it was you it happened to."
Next book: The Hork-Bajir Chronicles