| Date: 10 April 2011, 02:44
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Greetings earthlings from your oh-so-ancient reviewer (who is way over the target age group, I know.) I browsed over the other reviews and didn't find an in depth synapsis, so before my usual spill on the "older than thou" side, I'll start there. The reaction starts out with a humorous tone which quickly turns to action. While in the Gardens (a zoo/water park combination) a very young boy falls into a crocodile pit. Rachael and Cassie are there on a field trip, and while Cassie runs for help, Rachael takes matters into her own hands. Dropping into the pit, herself, she attempts to rescue the boy, coming face to face with a very ancient, deadly predator which has changed very little since the time of the dinosaurs. Forced to acquire the crocodile or be eaten by it as a side dish to the person she's trying to rescue, Rachael manages to absorb the DNA (see Animorphs #1: The Invasion for the full story of how this came to be) from the beast. It leaves her feeling woozy and sick, but there's no time to question that with the situation.
Unfortunately, dealing with explaining to her friends how she took unacceptable risks is the least of her worries, because Rachael is allergic to the crocodile, and unaware of that fact, she begins to have bouts of uncontrolled morphing. The results are disastrous, resulting in her house partially collapsing as a floor falls under the elephant's weight, to almost morphing in front of Chapman, and almost blowing a mission. Fortunately, the crocodile pit episode as well as the house falling in put her in a very good position. Her father, a TV newscaster, flies into town to check up on her, and with his help, she's able to get the Animorphs into a place to fulfill their main objective of the plot.
The main mission of this story deals with a young TV actor who is a ultimate teen heart throb, and is about to start endorsing the Sharing. Adored by teen girls nationwide, the Sharing's influx would skyrocket by such an endorsement, and the Animorphs hope to keep it from happening. Rachel's string of "accidents" make her a minor celebrity, and able to get into the local show where the actor is scheduled to appear for the endorsement.
Through all of this, Rachael tries to get a grip on her out of control morphing, and learns the allergy can be taken charge of by keeping a rein on any powerful emotions. For those who have followed the series to this point, I won't need to explain how very "un-Rachael" that thought is. Ax explains she'll need to expel the DNA of the crocodile in a kind of "burping" process. Naturally, this happens at the worst possible time toward the climax of novel, creating a large variety of havoc. As always no "spoilers" to how it ends, so the review halts there, but pandemonium, humor, and action tie up the end of the story.
Now for the 'older than thou' bit which I'm doing basically for any adults out there who are curious about these books (teachers, parents, etc.) This one doesn't have any heavy hitting moral threads running beneath it, but it does deal with something every girl has gone through (or will) at some point in her life -- the crush on a movie/TV star. It also deals with the disillusionment as someone finds out that the glamor and gloss on the object of their crush turns out to basically be a jerk. This one is full of humor, some tense scenes, an action/fight scene at the end, and quite creative. Applegate presented yet another new idea for her Animorphs, and a totally unique problem which had to be dealt with.
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