K.A.A. Reviels Reasons for No MM5
12.26.02

Thanks to Aximlli's Animorphs and Jeff, K.A. writes about the reasons for not having a Megamorphs #5:

"Anyway, on to the saga of the missing MEGA. It's all about contracts, actually. I had signed a contract for 6 ANI long-form books, meaning Megas or Chrons. And I had, at a different point, signed a contract for the last bunch of regular-length ANI's. But the two contracts weren't synchronized, so the due dates of the long forms extended well out beyond the due dates of the regular-length books. Then I decided to pull the plug on the series, leaving Scholastic in something of a quandary as to 3 long-form books.

"One of the long books we agreed to make a series bible. Another one was going to be a 'whatever happened to . . .' kind of book to be published a year out in the future. And the third one would be a final Mega to be published (according to the regular schedule) at the same time as 53. Fine, but then I realized 53, 54 and the Mega were all going inevitably to be one, continuing storyline. So how do we get kids to realize Mega and 53 were in sequence when they were published at the same time? We then agreed to move Mega to run at the same time as 54, hoping that would clarify things. But Scholastic sales and marketing guys had different plans already in the works. And let me say that I love Scholastic sales and marketing, they have done very, very well for me.

"Anyway, I think (though I do not know) that sales was concerned that two ANI books in June would step on the release of REMNANTS at the same time. These plans are all made long, long in advance and involve all sorts of details and arrangements, and my messing with the sequence wasn't helping their lives any. So we all jointly decided to take BOTH the final Mega and the 'Whatever happened to . . .' books and add them to the REMNANTS contract.

"I am not personally at all upset. I think the finale is fine the way it's going, though I understand that some readers may have wanted one big, final MEGA. Still, I think they'll get some of that in 54."

K.A.A. Biography Cancelled
7.09.01

MAS reports the unofficial K.A.A. biography being written has been cancelled due to K.A.A. requests. The Animorphs author says she is a private woman, and would like to keep her life private.

"The Informer's" Identity Released
7.09.01

Thanks to Aximlli's Animorphs, The Official Site's Animorphs XTreme's "The Informer" has been identified. It turns out the secretive writer is Jeff, webmaster of the popular Morphz.com. He writes:

"Everyone saw the little credit at the bottom of AnimorphsXtreme today, so I thought I'd finally talk about it. I've been waiting for months!

Anyway, way back in I think September a woman from Scholastic named Susan wrote us at MZ and told us about the Animorphs game they made and wanted our feedback. She and I ended up having several e-mail conversations.

For about a month I hadn't heard from her, but then in November I got an e-mail from Susan asking if I could call her. Which I did, and she laid it all out -- they were putting together a new site called AnimorphsXtreme and she was wondering if I'd like to help out. Of course I said yes!

She set up a phone meeting on November 30th -- incidentally the day the fate post went up -- and I talked with Susan, plus the head guy named Neil and a few other women. They explained what was going on, how they were doing this web site for the last books, asked me what I knew already, things like that. They offered me retribution for my work, and I said yes -- opting for the money rather than free books It wasn't a lot of money, though, so don't get too exited. This was, however, my first writing job, and I've had a couple more since.

So, after I signed a contract they sent over and we went to work. We discussed the page, and at the time they had this news letter that was supposed to go out to stores. It was pretty cool, and we based the site on it. They were always planning to have the Yeerks take over the site, but I suggested doing some weird K.A. columns first, and they liked what I wrote and agreed.

I wrote I think 8 questions and answers, and then they started sending me real Q & A. Yes, before you ask, I was annoyed how people would talk about how stupid the whole thing was, but I got over it.

Around that time they were talking about the voice messages from Jake and Rachel. Rachel M-W suggested that she and David go up there and record, and they thought it was a cool idea. Unfortunately, it turned out Rachel couldn't go, so David went with his cousin Erin for a day and they wrote the messages (based on little scripts I sent) and recorded them. I have a couple pictures from this, I'll post them soon.

Then came time for AniExtreme. They would send me the page proofs for the last four books a month before the book came out, along with the manuscript on computer, so I could keep everything up to date. The main guy, Neil, became the editor for the site really, so he was the only one I communicated with -- and I'm proud to say he was recently promoted . It went very smooth, they'd send a batch of Informer questions and I'd answer them and send along an article and some news snippets. They chose the newspaper names, incidently. I did pretty much all the writing for the site, they did all the design and updating. They actually asked me to send a picture of myself for the Informer part, and they edited it to make that mysterious red face on there!

I turned in the last Q & A, snippets, and article last week, and it finally went up.

So... Any questions about anything?

-Jeff"

K.A.A.'s Letter to #54 Criticism
7.09.01

Thanks to Morphz.com, K.A.A. has released a letter regarding the negative reaction to book #54:

Dear Animorphs Readers:

Quite a number of people seem to be annoyed by the final chapter in the Animorphs story. There are a lot of complaints that I let Rachel die. That I let Visser Three/One live. That Cassie and Jake broke up. That Tobias seems to have been reduced to unexpressed grief. That there was no grand, final fight-to-end-all-fights. That there was no happy celebration. And everyone is mad about the cliffhanger ending.

So I thought I'd respond.

Animorphs was always a war story. Wars don't end happily. Not ever. Often relationships that were central during war, dissolve during peace. Some people who were brave and fearless in war are unable to handle peace, feel disconnected and confused. Other times people in war make the move to peace very easily. Always people die in wars. And always people are left shattered by the loss of loved ones.

That's what happens, so that's what I wrote. Jake and Cassie were in love during the war, and end up going their seperate ways afterward. Jake, who was so brave and capable during the war is adrift during the peace. Marco and Ax, on the other hand, move easily past the war and even manage to use their experience to good effect. Rachel dies, and Tobias will never get over it. That doesn't by any means cover everything that happens in a war, but it's a start.

Here's what doesn't happen in war: there are no wondrous, climactic battles that leave the good guys standing tall and the bad guys lying in the dirt. Life isn't a World Wrestling Federation Smackdown. Even the people who win a war, who survive and come out the other side with the conviction that they have done something brave and necessary, don't do a lot of celebrating. There's very little chanting of 'we're number one' among people who've personally experienced war.

I'm just a writer, and my main goal was always to entertain. But I've never let Animorphs turn into just another painless video game version of war, and I wasn't going to do it at the end. I've spent 60 books telling a strange, fanciful war story, sometimes very seriously, sometimes more tongue-in-cheek. I've written a lot of action and a lot of humor and a lot of sheer nonsense. But I have also, again and again, challenged readers to think about what they were reading. To think about the right and wrong, not just the who-beat-who. And to tell you the truth I'm a little shocked that so many readers seemed to believe I'd wrap it all up with a lot of high-fiving and backslapping. Wars very often end, sad to say, just as ours did: with a nearly seamless transition to another war.

So, you don't like the way our little fictional war came out? You don't like Rachel dead and Tobias shattered and Jake guilt-ridden? You don't like that one war simply led to another? Fine. Pretty soon you'll all be of voting age, and of draft age. So when someone proposes a war, remember that even the most necessary wars, even the rare wars where the lines of good and evil are clear and clean, end with a lot of people dead, a lot of people crippled, and a lot of orphans, widows and grieving parents.

If you're mad at me because that's what you have to take away from Animorphs, too bad. I couldn't have written it any other way and remained true to the respect I have always felt for Animorphs readers.

K.A. Applegate

K.A.A. Online Chat Transcript
7.09.01

On June 12th, K.A.A. held an online chat at MSN. Here is the transcript thanks to MSN

Digital Dish Diva says: Welcome to MSN Live. Today we are pleased to welcome author, K.A. Applegate to MSN Live. K.A. may best be known as the author of the popular Animorph series. Her new series is Remnants, starting with the first book, "The Mayflower Project."

Digital Dish Diva says: K.A., welcome to MSN Live. We're happy to have you here to talk about your new books.

K.A. Applegate says: Hi, Everyone. Thanks for coming. I hope no one is missing any good TV.

Wolfblade says: Which series has been hardest to write? K.A. Applegate says: "Everworld." The voice was a stretch for me. The books were long and they required research. I set up a style which required constant jokes or asides and it was tiring.

Crayak says: Why was the last book called "The Beginning"?

K.A. Applegate says: Well, first of all I don't name the books. The editors do that. I think it was the cliffhanger ending that caused them to think along those lines. Plus it seemed more optimistic and original than the other choice: The End.

superstarchic2 says: Why did you choose writing sci-fi books?

K.A. Applegate says: I kind of didn't. I started off to do a series about animals. I wanted to get readers into the minds of the animals. Then it occurred to me that I needed some jeopardy. Suddenly I was a sci-fi writer.

mindseye_007 says: How on earth did you come up with the type of steel the Coo-Hatch use in Ever world?

K.A. Applegate says: I don't remember. I have this vague memory of riffing on some other idea that led me there. But aside from the ever-present subliminal Tolkien inspiration, I don't recall.

The_Game_13_7 says: In Remnants, people use screen name as their names. What would yours be?

K.A. Applegate says: Something very prosaic. I guess I'd probably keep my own name. I don't really approve of screen names.

Digital Dish Diva says: K.A., we have a lot of questions about Rachel.

Evermorph says: What made you decide to kill Rachel?

K.A. Applegate says: Someone had to die and she was just so annoyingly thin and well- dressed. Okay, seriously? Animorphs was a war story. In wars, people die. Not just bad people or irrelevant people, but people who are the center of someone's life, as Rachel was to Tobias. I wanted to show that. I wanted it to be hard, not easy.

animorphs_newsletter says: How many Remnants books have you currently written (besides 1 & 2)?

K.A. Applegate says: We have fourteen planned and I've written four. I've outlined a few more beyond that.

Bekki_Koons says: In the Everworld series, when they reached Atlantis how could they see under water?

K.A. Applegate says: Visine. Actually, the deal with EW was that the laws of physics had been rewritten by the gods who created the place. Just as have laws of physics, they did, but perhaps not identical.

Justin_6898 says: When you first started writing Animorphs, how long did you think it would last? How long to you think Remnants will last?

K.A. Applegate says: I thought Animorphs was over around book 11. I thought "That's it, I'm done, that's all I can think of.'" Turned out I was wrong. As for Remnants, I don't want it to go beyond 14. I think series should have some limits. I probably should have ended Animorphs about ten books earlier than I did. BUT it's hard to judge these things.

Dahjo799 says: Can you tell us more about The One at the end of 54? Is it the voice in 41?

K.A. Applegate says: You know what? I'm counting on all the Fan Fiction writers out there to figure that out. I wrote the cliffhanger ending because I wanted to show that Jake could only really find himself again when he stumbled back into a war. I wanted to show that one war often leads seamlessly into the next. But a part of me was thinking, "Here's for the fan fiction writers."

Katherine says: My dad is making me say this. He likes your books (I got him hooked.) He wants to know how you view future technology?

K.A. Applegate says: With a mixture of optimism and dread, edging closer to optimism. To the extent that technology is destroying personal privacy, I despise it. On the other hand, medical science is technology, too. I am very excited about the genome project. Plus, I'd like someone to make a toaster that can actually brown the bread evenly. Whoever does that gets my vote for Nobel Prize.

Digital Dish Diva says: Let's get down to some basic questions about "The Mayflower Project."

mindseye_007 says: What is the basic plot for your new book, "The Mayflower Project?"

K.A. Applegate says: Hmm. Well, the basic idea is 1) Blow up the world, 2) Send a few survivors hurtling through space where they 3) run into strange and exciting things I'm not going to give away yet. If you want to get all deep on it, Animorphs was a war story and a story about transitions. Everworld was more philosophical, and Remnants is more political and historical.

goldmeganium says: All my friends say that you will start a series called Animorphs2 after you finish Remnants. Is this true?

K.A. Applegate says: No. I will not write another Animorphs. We talked about it (Scholastic and me) and I felt very strongly that we had gone on long enough. You gotta walk off stage before they start throwing fruit.

K.A. Applegate says: Sorry, everyone. I was cut off. Funny, but just before I lost the connection I saw Steve Case's face on my screen.

Digital Dish Diva says: WartyBarrell in Onstage2 asks: How do you like being published in e-book form?

K.A. Applegate says: E-books? As I writer I love the idea -- once we can figure out how to charge for them. After all, I do have to buy groceries.

nmatt101 says: Do you base any characters you've written on yourself?

K.A. Applegate says: No. Not even close. I don't base them on anyone. That's too limiting. I'd be trapped by the reality of wondering what I'd do if the world was blowing up. And since that would be drink heavily, eat cookies and watch movies, that would make a weak story.

Justin_6898 says: When you first started developing the character Jobs, how did you go about that? Did you go very deep at first or just let him develop book by book?

K.A. Applegate says: I always start with a "Series Bible." It's sort of a dossier on characters, sets, ideas, plots, toys and tech stuff. With characters, I start compiling their looks, their likes and dislikes, their quirks etc. . . Then, as I write all that changes. But it gives me a place to start.

Sky_Sorceress says: I liked Animorph's ending and thought it fit much better than some happy flowery ending, but I couldn't help wondering if you planned to end the series like that when you started, or planned anything specific about the ending at all halfway through.

K.A. Applegate says: I didn't think too much about the ending till I was about half a dozen books away from it. Once I started thinking about it I knew what I wanted and what I didn't want. I know a lot of people are mad about the ending. But I couldn't write an ending full of parades and high-fives and parties. That's not a real war ends, so that's not how my pretend war ended.

Jake_The_Animorph says: Have you ever looked back on a book or something you did and wanted to change it in the books?

K.A. Applegate says: Oh, all the time. Unfortunately writing a series is an assembly-line job. You can't stop and rethink and rearrange very much. You have about eight seconds to come up with a metaphor, and if it doesn't come, too bad, move on.

LSKY7 says: On the Remnants Official Site, it mentions to characters: Dallas and Wylson Lefkowitz- Blake who we haven't met yet. When will we meet them?

K.A. Applegate says: In book two. Dallas actually uses a different name, and Wylson is her Mom.

Justin_6898 says: Was it your idea for Remnants books to come out every other month?

K.A. Applegate says: I don't decide those things. When Animorphs first started it came out every other month. Then went monthly, and eventually we were doing two books in some months. Scholastic handles that. I kind of stay out of their decision making because they are good enough to stay out of mine.

cheetahgurl1848 says: Who is your favorite author, besides yourself?

K.A. Applegate says: For kid's books? e.b. white. For adult books? Proust? Oh yeah, can't get enough Proust. (Kidding)

Cait_Sith99 says: Which book, in any series, was your favorite to write?

K.A. Applegate says: Animorphs #19. I thought I wrote that pretty well. Also I was proud of Hork-Bajir Chronicles. And I guess the book with Christopher and Dionysus in EW, the number of which I forget. I liked Christopher as a character because he was such a jerk, and yet okay underneath it all.

Becca_519 says: When will the Baby be born?

K.A. Applegate says: Ahhh, the Baby is going to be lots of fun. I'm not even going to go into The Baby at all. Except to say: don't judge me till you have a four year old. Then you'll understand.

Evermorph says: Who are Michael and Jake, the two people you always dedicate your books to?

K.A. Applegate says: Michael is my husband and co-author, Jake is my son and the inspiration for The Baby.

Padfoot says: What class in school was your favorite?

K.A. Applegate says: Boy, I can't say I was ever excited about anything in school. I was in chorus for a while, and that was okay except that it was in the South and they required us to sing Dixie.

Anifan2007 says: Did you name Jake from Jake of the Animorphs or did you already have that on the 'name list' before Animorphs was created? K.A. Applegate says: I knew when I named my son Jake I'd be dooming him to this. Nope, I just liked the name. Actually, it's Jacob. That way if he's an academic he can be Jacob, and if he's an action figure he can be Jake.

glittergal228 says: What does K.A. stand for?

K.A. Applegate says: Katherine Alice. The whole initials thing is overdone, don't you think? It was okay for e.b. white, but now everyone is doing it.

TobiasBradshaw says: What do you think would have happened to Rachel if she lived (If you hadn't killed her! Why! Why must you do such things?)

K.A. Applegate says: Rachel would have done poorly in real life. I tried to show over time that she was deteriorating mentally, becoming too addicted to the action, too much a creature of the war. She was straying close to the old good-evil line

Tigina says: What was one of your favorite lines from Animorphs?

K.A. Applegate says: Hmmm. "Globules!" When Ax goes nuts eating chocolate in the movie. Also I liked all the Helmacron stuff. I enjoyed them. Plus "De-Morph!" just because it comes up so regularly in everyday life.

Digital Dish Diva says: K.A., thanks for joining us this afternoon and for sharing the secrets of the Animorph and Remnants series.

K.A. Applegate says: Thanks for coming. I think Will and Grace is on tonight. Oh, and please try out Remnants. Maybe you'll like it, maybe not, but I think it will surprise you.

K.A.A. Online Chat Location
6.05.01

Thanks to Jeff, we now know the location of the K.A.A. chat next tuesday. The chat will be held at http://chat.msn.com/kaapplegate.msnw at 4 PM Pacific/ 7PM Eastern Time, June 12th, 2001. Make sure you're there!

K.A.A. Online Chat
6.03.01

Morphz.com reports that Scholastic, along with Microsoft Network, will be hosting an online chat with Aniorphs author K.A. Applegate. The chat will be held on June 12th at 4:00 PM Pacific / 7:00 PM Eastern at MSN. We will report more info as we receive it. Make sure you're there to get all of your questions answered from K.A.A. herself!

Amazon.com Dedicates Page to Animorphs
5.24.01

AWN reports that Amazon.com has dedicated a new page for the Animorphs series. The page includes the info to buy any Animorphs book as well as the first Remnants book! It also includes the Letter to the Fans that is in the back of #54, however, the letter at Amazon is missing the first paragraph. So mosey on over there. Click here to see!

Animorphs Series Officially Comes to an End
5.24.01

With the month of May rolling in, the Animorphs Series has officially come to an end. Most fans around the country, and many around the globe, have read Book #54 The Beginning and all have had different opinions of it. We will surely miss the series, and it will stay in our hearts forver.

Book #54 Inner Cover and Summery
4.12.01

A-N.com EXCLUSIVE! Due to a freak accident of getting book #54 about a month and a half early thanks to a little brothers bookorder, we have for you the inner cover and official summery for the final Animorphs book. This summery is found on the back of the book:

"No one ever thought it would come to this.

Jake, Rachel, Tobias, Cassie, Marco, and Ax know that even if they could have warned people in the begining, no one would have believed their story. A story about an invasion of parasetic aliens. So, for all of this time, Jake, the other Animorphs, and Ax have secretly faught a desparate battle. Secretly held the Yeerks at bay.

But those days are over.

It's come down to the final battle between the Yeerks and Animorphs. And no one knows who will win, lose, or live...

THE EXTRAORDINARY CONCLUSION TO THE BEST-SELLING ANIMORPHS"

To view the inner cover, click here

Animorphs Names, Ages, and Location
3.29.01

Jeff from Morphz.com reports that in book #53 and #54, the Animorphs last names, ages, and location will be released. Make sure you read these books for the info!

Time to Vote!
3.12.01

It's time to vote! Voting for the Kid's Choice Awards will be held from today (March 12th) to March 26! Click here to vote!

Kid's Choice Awards Voting and Nominee Info
3.7.01

A-N.com EXCLUSIVE! Voting for the Nickelodeon Kid's Choice Awards will begin on March 12 to March 26 at Nick.com. As reported earlier, Animorphs is nominated again this year for favorite book. This will be it's final nomination due to the series ending in May, so we have to help it win. Make sure you check out KCA Nominee List. KCA2001 will be held on April 21st on Nickelodeon.

Animorphs Location?
3.6.01

This is not confirmed, but highly probable. The official site's new section, Animorphs XTreme, may have given us a major hint on where the Animorphs live. Not even a hint, the actual place... In the NEWS WIRE section of their site, the newspaper mentions 'Vice Principal at the local middle school' (refering to Chapman). The newpaper itself is called The Randolph Ledger and is from New Jersey. From this we can deduce the Animorphs live in N.J. and most likely a city called Randolph...

New Official Site Section
3.6.01

The Official Animorph Site made a breakthrough this week with a brand-new section to their site. The new section is called Animorphs XTreme, and is VERY spoiler filled. If you have not read book 45 and up, I would not recommend seeing this. Click on the logo below to see all of this nifty stuff.

Final Animorph Book Cover Released
2.19.01

The cover for book #54, the final Animorphs book, has now been released. Thanks to morphz.com for the original, and MAS for a clearer version, the cover is awesome. Check out the future books page for more info.

Applegate's New Series
2.19.01

Earlier this week, BN.com released the news of K.A. Applegate writing a brand new series due out in May/June of 2001. The series will be called 'Remnants', and follow the story of the world ending, and finding a new home for humanity. Morphz.com reported on the news of K.A. Applegate's new series:

"Welcome to the year 2011....

It is the not too distant future. Technology has advanced to keep everyone sufficiently wired. Tastes and styles have changed. A lot of people have even taken to calling themselves by chosen screen-nameish names. Life's pretty good all around.

Too bad the world is going to be destroyed in four days.

Bang.

A mission called the Mayflower Project has quickly been thrown together. A total of 80 people -- NASA technicians, a few commanders, people who bribed their way on, and their families -- have been chosen to take the mishmash of old and new, untested technologies into space in hopes of keeping the human race alive in some form. Nobody really thinks it will lead to anything. As far as they know, human kind ends along with Earth.

They're entirely wrong.

Unbeknownst to anyone involved, the destruction of Earth and the almost-secret send-off of the 80 are just a prelude to a bigger story. A story that takes place hundreds of years in the future when the survivors awaken and discover they are surrounded by utter strangeness -- a weird new reality that gets crazier book by book.

I don't want to give a lot away because Remnants is a series that will thrive on surprises. According to K.A. this is her last series ever, she's going to throw away the rules. When you think the series is going in one direction, it'll make a left turn and take you somewhere entirely different. No one character is immortal, and no one character will go unchanged during this ordeal -- some more noticeably than others.

The cast is big. Kids, adults, aliens, and others. Unlike Animorphs and Everworld, Remnants is third person, meaning that more than one character gets their view shown throughout any given book. And there's no set pattern -- as in real life, alliances will change, groups will form and degenerate and form again.

Remnants is going to be considered middle reader science-fiction, like Animorphs. But Remnants is really like the ultimate aspects of Animorphs, Everworld, and K.A.'s amazing Chronicles books all rolled into one, with bits of Lord of the Flies thrown in. There won't be any overt sexuality or bad language, ala Everworld, but not all the main characters will be perfect saints as in Animorphs. There's good characters, and there's ambiguous characters, and just plain evil characters. There's kids and adults. There's also the Baby.

But Remnants is most definitely darker than Animorphs ever was.

This is all we're gonna say for now. The first and possibly second book will be on the shelves in either May or June. I'm sure one of the on-line booksellers will have an official summary and cover for these books soon, and we'll have those here -- as well as more details on the awesomeness that is Remnants. Stay tuned.... "

We will report more as soon as we get it.

Alternate #52 Summery
2.10.01

A-N.com EXCLUSIVE! Thanks to Crazy4Blue, we have a new alternate book #52 Summery. This may not be confirmed as an official summery, but it said to come from a scholastic employee:

"The Yeerks have abandoned all secrecy. They are loading people onto underground trains that run directly to the Yeerk pool where they perform mass infestations. The vast army of Controllers is growing rapidly and will soon be unstoppable. Ax and the Animorphs can think of only one solution to use one of the trains to blow up the Yeerk pool. But the cost will be measured in hundreds, perhaps thousands of innocent human lives. "

New Back-Of-Book Slogan
2.10.01

A-N.com EXCLUSIVE! Thanks to Josh, starting with book #51, the back of the book slogan 'We can't tell you who we are, or where we live...' etc. has changed. The official new back-of-book slogan is now as follows:

"Here's the deal these days: they know exactly who we are. They know exactly where we live. We've got a few secrets left, and we're gonna use them. But just know that the end is coming. And we don't know how much longer we can do this. How much longer we can fight.

What about you? Where will you be where it ends? Think about it. Think hard. Because the countdown has already begun...."

Book #51 'End-Is-Near' Additions
2.10.01

A-N.com EXCLUSIVE! Thanks to Josh, book 51 is the start of the end. On the cover, on top of the Animorphs logo, you will find: "It's countdown time. Only three more books until the end...". Also, in the preview for book #52 in the back, you will find the words 'Extinction Express' and "Only Three Books Left Until The End!"

Book 53 Cover and Summery Released
2.5.01

ANIMORPHS JOURNAL FOLLOWERS WARNING!!! Click here for details.

Thanks to Crazy4Blue and Amazon.com, the cover and summery to book #53 have been released. Click here for details.

Kid's Choice Nomination
1.28.01

Morphz.com reports that Animorphs has againg been nominated for the Nickelodeon's Kid's Choice Awards. Here is the press release:

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Kid favorite Rosie O' Donnell will return for a fifth year to host Nickelodeon's 14th Annual Kids' Choice Awards, joined by an array of stars from the worlds of film, music, sports and television. The event, which celebrates the power of kids in the new millennium, will air live from the Barker Hanger in Santa Monica, CA, on Saturday, April 21, from 8-9:30PM ET/PT.

The nominees for Nickelodeon's 14th Annual Kids' Choice Awards are:

FAVORITE BOOK
Animorphs Series/By K.A. Applegate
Bud, Not Buddy/By Christopher Paul Curtis
Chicken Soup Series/Edited by Jack Canfield
Harry Potter Series/By J.K. Rowling

Kids will be able to vote both on and off air in a total of 19 categories. Voting kicks off on February 12 at participating BURGER KING(R) restaurants nationwide. Kids will also be able to vote for their favorites online at Nick.com, through balloting in Nick Magazine and by calling a toll-free number displayed during programming on Nickelodeon.

In addition, kids can log onto the Kids' Choice Awards area on nick.com to read bios on the nominees and listen to streaming audio of nominees in the Favorite Voice From An Animated Movie category. Nick.com will also feature a live chat with Rosie O'Donnell one day prior to the awards show.

Book #54 Title Released
1.9.01

Today, the title to the last Animorphs book, #54 was released. The book will be called 'The Beginning'. No other information is known about this book, though. Thanks to Morphz.com for this info.

KA Applegate Biography to be Released
1.9.01

This September, a brand-new KA Applegate biography will be released. The author will be Ann Gaines. Along with many other already written biographies, and the soon-to-come KAA biography, Gaines is planning to release five other big name author biographies around the same time -- J.K. Rowling, Gary Paulsen, Christopher Paul Curtis, Dr. Seuss, and Roald Dahl. For more information, check out this page thanks to Amazon.com. Thanks to Morphz.com for pointing out this info.

New Animorphs Radio Commercial
12.26.00

A-N.com EXCLUSIVE! A new Animorph radio commercial has begun to hit air-waves lately. Here is a transcript:

~static~

JAKE: Hel-...hello? Turn it a little this way... ~tone of airwaves change to a higher pitch~ Ok,the animorphs are on-air.

RACHEL: Ok. This is Rachel. I am an animorph. I used to be fearless, but now I feel this fight is going to the grave. We fight a bunch of parasetic aliens called Yeerks, and they are getting more aggressive. Don't doubt me. They're here. And we need your he- ~static~

VOICE: Get the latest Animorphs Book, The Resistance, by KA Applegate at bookstores everwhere, and know the secret.

~static~

Book #52 Cover Released
12.21.00

The book cover to Animorphs #52, The Sacrifice was released today. To view this cover and the books info, click here. Thanks to Morphz.com

Book #50 Sample Chapter Released
12.03.00

Thanks to the Official Site, and to Carly for pointing it out, the official site updated with a sample chapter to book #50- The Ultimate. This is a spoiler, so to read it, click here. Personally, I am really excited about this book.

Animorphs, Everworld, and KAA to end...
12.03.00

The Animorphs and Everworld series are scheduled to end May, 2001. The following info is all found at Morphz.com. Thank you to them for this:

ANIMORPHS

Though an official announcement has yet to be released by Scholastic, it's time to come to terms with the news. We're going to get right to the point here -- as many people have speculated and dreaded for some time, K.A. has chosen to end Animorphs. As has been suspected, the big story arc that began in #45 The Revelation, and which will take a big, major turn this month with #49 The Diversion, was designed to provide a year of entertaining, surprising books that will lead us to the big finale come May. The final Animorphs will in fact not be Megamorphs #5, as some have suggested, but #54. The final book will be at least partially narrated by all the characters, so don't worry about not getting final input from your favorite.

Why is Animorphs ending? And why with a regular series book and not a Megamorphs? Well, to answer the first question, K.A. simply felt that Animorphs was growing tired. It had its run and was losing steam, she didn't really have anything else to say in the books. Hence all of the big plot twists in the coming months.

K.A. is also very much aware that we as fans have our own ideas how the series should end. As is, there was originally supposed to be a Megamorphs finale, but the release dates didn't work out. The way it's set up now, though, the last six books will work together to form that one big ending we've hoped for, especially the final two books. K.A. set out to create a big, proper finish for Animorphs, one that's true to its philosophy and true its characters, an ending that's not neat and easy for the sake of wrapping things up. But it will definitely be an ending that will be surprising to read and exciting to experience.

There is also the question of what ever happened to the fifth Megamorphs and the fifth Chronicles that K.A. was contracted to write. There was, in actuality, three long-form books left up in the air with ending. One of the books is currently being developed into a commemorative sort of book by K.A. and Scholastic, a book that would show her original series 'bible', as well as detail behind the scenes info and a ton of other interesting things as well. The book be Chronicle-length (think Andalite, not Visser) and will be released sometime around the beginning of the next school year, a special edition for the fans. The other two contracted books will have to be made up by K.A. at some point, though how has yet to be decided.

EVERWORLD

Understandably, some people might now be miffed at K.A.'s other series, thinking that it's the cause of K.A. finishing Animorphs. This is not the case at all -- the decision was based on how the Animorphs series had progressed, not how time consuming it can be to write Everworld.

In fact, unfortunately, it seems like Everworld will probably be ending soon as well.

Lightning usually doesn't strike twice, and that was sort of the case with Everworld. K.A. and Scholastic mutually agreed that the series simply wasn't selling well enough to continue. The books did well, considering the language and sexiness, as well as a group of main characters that many would deem unlikable, but just not well enough.

The next two books are going to be released on a more extended schedule -- #11 in January 2001 and #12 in April 2001. K.A. still developed #12 to be left open-ended like all the other books, however, in case the series does pick up sales and can be continued sometime down the line.

K.A. APPLEGATE

So, with both of her series probably ending come spring, where does that leave K.A.? She stated before that after Animorphs and Everworld she would be done with series writing. So what's next?

There's a well known quote that says, 'Final decisions are often made in a state of mind that doesn't last.' We can not comment on that at all, but feel free to speculate....

Book 51 Cover Released
11.29.00

Thanks to Morphz.com, the cover for book #51, The Absolute was released:

Click to Enlarge

To view other book info on this book, click here.

Book 53 Title Released
11.19.00

ANIMORPHS JOURNAL FOLLOWERS WARNING!!! Click here for details.

Thanks to BarnesandNobel.com and Morphz.com, the title for Animorphs, Book 53 was released. This book will be called 'The Answer'. No plot was included, so we don't know what this book will be about, at all.

Book 49 Sample Chapter, #50's Cover, and Book #52 Title's Released
11.6.00

Thanks to Morphz.com the cover to book #50, The Ultimate, was released. You can see that here. Also, the book #49 Sample Chapter was released at the official site. You can read that here. And finally, the title for book #52 was released. To see that and it's plot, click here.

Book 49 Cover, and Book 48 Sample Released
10.3.00

Thanks to Morphz.com and the Official Site, the new book cover to book #49 The Diversion was released. To see this cover, click here, or go directly to the Future Books Page.

Also, thanks to the Official Site, the sample chapter to book #48, The Return- was released. You can read that here.

Animorph Radio Commercials
9.27.00

Thanks to Morphz.com for this info! Commercials for animorphs have been heard all over the country. Here are some good summery's of what they said:

::static::

JAKE (possibly Shawn Ashmore): Hi. My name is Jake. For three years we've been fighting the Yeerks. But now changes are coming. Big changes. Changes that could morph your world-
::static::

ANNOUNCER: Get the newest Animorphs book, #46 The Deception, wherever books are sold.

____________

::static::

Brooke Nevin: "Go, Jake!"

Shawn Ashmore: "Okay. My name is Jake. I'm the leader of the Animorphs. We've been fighting the Yeerks for three years. But now we know we just aren't strong enough. So we need your help. We need..."

::static::

Deep, Male Voice: "The Animorphs need your help. Catch K.A. Applegate's latest book, The Deception, in stores near you."

Thanks to Morphz!

Demo Disk Included with Book #45
8.16.00

We'd like to thank Morphz and Julie for this info. If you like a wee bit more info than we have check Morphz for it.

Exciting news! Along with #45 (the book all of us AniFans have been looking forward too) you get the Animorphs PC demo with it! Now, all of you, please don't go to your local bookstore and demand PC demo, read the rest of this first and then go demand PC demo. ;)

Now I'm also not sure if this is only for Waldensbooks (who gets a ton of free AniStuff more than any other bookstore I know of), so hold yourself there too.

This part is especially thanks to Morphz and Julie. A good description of the demo!:

"When you start it up after installing, you first come to a menu. You can go to the OPTIONS, CHANGE PLAYER NAME, and go to ADVENTURE MODE, which is where you start.

"Tobias kicks off the demo with a prologue, where he flies overhead and tells you about the Yeerks, Chapman, the Sharing, etc - Along with the familiar 'I guess you're one of those people who look up at the stars at night and wonder what would happen if aliens landed. Well, you can stop wondering. They're here' phrases.

"He guides you through the controls (Arrow keys: Move and turn, CTRL key: Action I, ALT key: Action II, Space key: Action III, Shift: Run, TAB key: Switch character). After finding the character you want to play (I have a preference to Rachel), Tobias tells you to pick up a key behind the barn.

"Then, you go to a silver chest by some trees and unlock it with the key (Tobias tells you the controls to do this). Inside are 2-3 Energy Bars, which will heal you in battle.

"There's a squirrel nearby, and your friendly hawk guide instructs you to acquire its DNA. You practice morphing with the Animorphs' initial morphs right now (Jake: Tiger, Squirrel, Rhino - Rachel: Gorilla, Grizzly, Squirrel - Cassie: Wolf, Squirrel, Ostrich - Marco: Polar Bear, Squirrel, Kangaroo) and then go to the edge of the forest.

"You either morph Tiger or Wolf to get through the forest, and race the clock to run under falling trees, leap over pits and rocks, and dash between tree trunks. This is where the shot of the Siberian Tiger in the bright green environment comes from.

"After this, you go inside Cassie's barn and choose the Animorphs' battle morphs to fight a few hologram Hork-Bajir, going after a skill setting of Easy, Medium, or Difficult. You can't die here right now (it's a Practice mode!!), but when an Animorph's energy bar goes to zero, he or she will sit the battle out and the rest will have to fight on.

"When you win, you get 3 Energy Bars and Tobias tells you to go over to Cassie's house to help them fight the Yeerks (don't ask me how). Right when you get up to her front door, a message flashes up...

"END OF DEMO."

"I am so going to get the full version when it comes out. I'm nearly bursting with ecstacy and excitement at the DEMO ALONE."

Ditto with those last two sentences for me! Man, that games sounds so cool beyond belief! I need that game! I need that demo! I need 45! I will-~is being pulled away by her family for mumbling about causing some destruction to bookstores to search for PC demo a bit too loudly~

Help me, fellow AniFans! Don't let me be pulled away! Ahhhhhhh! Oh yeah, the full game will be release August 30th. -Cindy

Video Game Covers Released
8.10.00

The covers for all of the new Animorphs Video Games have been released. Playstation, PC, and Gameboy Game Covers are the order in the following:

New Animorph Coming Soon?
7.7.00

Thanks alot to Axman's Animorph website for this info! In a May 1999 chat, K.A. Applegate said that in the outline of book #42 "The Journey", she had added a new Animorph. If this is still true then the kid who took the picture of the Animorphs may soon become one. Just a thought...

New Animorph Models
6.18.00

The Escafil Device reports, adding on to a previous AE news article that stated 'Scholastic is trying out new models for the series, trying to find the perfect ones! So far the confirmed latest books with new models are #43, #37, and Megamorphs #4.' Escafil Device reports that all of the models have changed, or WILL change in the very near future, except Cassie. The reason being the old models were starting to look too old to portray 13 or 14 year olds. The reason Cassie's model hasn't changed- she is 19...

#44 Released Early?
6.18.00

The Escafil Device reports that scholastic has announced book #44 is coming out earlier than usual. It is quite possible that this book may come out as early as late THIS month.

Paulo Costanzo in 'Road Trip'
5-19-00

Paulo Costanzo, the guy who plays Ax on Ani-TV, is reported to be in the movie 'Road Trip', with Talk show host Tom Greene. His character is supposed to be the "...intellegent one. Whenever they come up against a problem, I measure up the angle." Can't wait to see what happens!

Playstation Game Cover
5.19.00

This news is a little late, and most of you have probally seen it, but oh well. The picture of the Animorphs Playstation game has been released.

If you didn't notice, the characters in this game have a striking resemblence to the Ani-TV characters. Oh well... (Thanks to Morphz.com for pointing this out...)

Ellimist Chronicles Information
4.27.00

Hey, ya'll. Cindy here with some cool news. Yay! News! It's about the Ellimist Chronicles! You know, the Ellimist. Thank you, Morphz for the info!

The book spans millions of years -- and includes a lot of never before seen species and civilizations. It also spans the life of Ellimist himself, from childhood to how he started his battle of wits -- and pawns -- with Crayak. Not to mention the interesting fact that "Ellimist" is a game name, a screen name, so to speak -- not the actual name of Ellimist OR his species....

And here is a nifty thing that the Morphz team came up with...

"Think of the ongoing battle between Ellimist and Crayak as a chess game. With the universe as their chess board. The two players, obviously on opposing sides, must make moves to attempt to get an upper hand in the battle -- the game.

"But you've gotta remember, just like chess, there are certain rules that the players must follow. Ellimist and Crayak can't go directly interfering -- but they could, say, make a Time Matrix and leave it out there for the right person to find. The 'game' also involves lots of planning, especially on Ellimist's part as revealed in MM4. It's obviously not coincidence that a born leader, a born fighter, the son of Elfangor, the brother of Elfangor, the song of Visser One's host, and an anomaly (anchor in time) became the Animorphs. Basically, like the Drode said, Ellimist stacked the deck before the game began. Or during it, early on. Something like that ;)

"Overall, it boils down to a cosmic game, with the Animorphs, Howlers, and so on as pawns (or bishops, rooks, queens, or kings) in a greater battle."

Thank you Morphz for this wonderful info! Thank you!

Harry Potter beats out Animorphs
4.19.00

Unfortuently, Animorphs did not win the blimp for the Favorite Book at the Nickelodeon Kid's Choice Awards 2000. Congratulations to Harry Potter Series for it's win, but don't be discouraged Ani-fans. Animorphs may have a chance again next year!

Ghostwritten Books
4.19.00

Thanks to Matt, we have a list of partially ghostwritten books! Kind of depressing, though. Most of these books are my favorites:

#25 The Extreme

#28 The Experiment

#31 The Conspiracy

#33 The Illusion

#34 The Prophecy

#35 The Proposal

#37 The Weakness

#38 The Arrival

#39 The Hidden

#40 The Other

#41 The Familiar

Video Game Prices
4.19.00

A little late, but we have the release dates and prices of the Animorphs Video Games, courtesy of The Escafil Device. Shattered Reality and Know the Secret, the Playstation and PC games will be out to but on the 30th of August, 2000. The Playstation Game will cost (US) $29.99, fiarly cheap compared to other games. The PC game cost is unknown at this time. The Game Boy Color game will be out September 16th, and will also be priced at (US) $29.99. All three can be pre-ordered at ebworld.com.

Video Game Release Info and Pictures
4.04.00

Animorph Playstation/PC game info released today. It will officially be released in August of 2000. The press realease, along with game stats, and pictures, can be found here. Morphz.com and the Escafil Device deserve credit for this. Thanks.

Animorphs TV- No Season Three
3.25.00

Ani-Tv's Rachel, Brooke Nevin, affirmed that there will be no Season Three on Animorphs TV. Episode 226, 'CHANGES' will be the last new Animorphs TV episode aired on television.

Exclusive - Reasons for Shorter Books
3.25.00

Jeff writes: "BTW, the reason the books are shorter is actually something rather unexpected -- K.A. switched from Word Perfect to Word, and the version she uses drops entire paragraphs down to a lower page. The manuscripts look the same length to K.A. -- but in print, the books are about 20-25 pages shorter! Not only that, but her son, Jake, likes to mess with the settings and she's pretty sure he must have messed with something in Word.

Anyway, just thought I'd let you know the shorter books have nothing to do with K.A. or anyone else wanting more money [in regards to your news on Scholastic Strike]...."

Scholastic on Strike
3.25.00

Many of Scholastic's, the publisher of Animorphs, employess are on a strike period, due to lack of pay. The only way to stop the strike is to meet the needs of their valued employess, or fire them... Money for the employees means more for us to pay... In other words, don't get surprised about an Animorph Book Price Jump...

Remember, these are rumors! We will keep you posted!

Kid's Choice Awards Voting Open
3.25.00

Vote, VOTE, VOTE!! The Voting Booth for the Kid's Choice Awards have opened, and it's time for us to support our series! As reported earlier, Animorphs have been nominated for the third year in a row, for a Kid's Choice Award for Favorite Book. Though losing the past two years, Animorphs will kick butt this year!! But, that is up to us!

To vote for Animorphs, you must go to The Official Voting Page at Nick.com, or go to Burger King to pick up mail-in ballots. At Nick.com, you will vote for Animorphs plus a few of your other favorites of things. We here at AE are doing our part in voting! So far, Cindy has sent in 23 ballots through mail (which you can pick up at Burger King), we each have voted about 15 times, and are recruiting others to vote. Wowees.

Video Game Pushed Back
3.11.00

I was just informed that the Animorphs Playstation Game, Shattered Reality, has been pushed back from the Spring of 2000 to August 2000. There was no specified reason why. We will hope to get you details later.

Kid's Choice Awards Nomination
2.27.00

Animorphs have been nominated for Nickeloden Kids Choice Awards for the third year in a row! Here is the 'press release':

LOS ANGELES--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--Feb. 25, 2000--

An array of stars from the worlds of film, music, sports and television were announced today as nominees for Nickelodeon's 13th Annual Kids' Choice Awards. The event, which celebrates the power of kids in the new millennium, will air from the legendary Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, CA, on Saturday, April 15 from 8-9:30 p.m. ET/PT.

"Since holding our first Kids' Choice Awards in 1987, the show has emerged as one of the most fun and star-studded events in Hollywood," said Albie Hecht, President of Film & Television, Nickelodeon and an executive producer of the annual awards show. "This year 15,000 kids will honor their favorites at a spectacular celebration complete with fireworks at the world-famous Hollywood Bowl, while millions more will watch at home. We plan to make this year's Kids' Choice Awards our biggest live event ever."

The nominees for Nickelodeon's 13th Annual Kids' Choice Awards are:

Favorite Book

-------------

Animorphs

Chicken Soup For The Kids' Soul

Harry Potter Series

Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace

Kids will have the opportunity to cast their votes both on and off air in a total of 25 categories. Voting kicks off on February 28 at participating BURGER KING(R) restaurants nationwide, where kids can cast their votes through March 12. From March 13 through March 27, kids can go to nick.com to choose their favorite stars, including 10 categories that will be exclusive to online voting. Kids can also vote by calling a toll-free number Nickelodeon will be flashing on air during programming from March 20 through 24 and on Saturday night March 25 during SNICK.

The Kids' Choice Awards area on nick.com will include nominee bios, Kids' Choice Awards instant win postcards and a ticker with up to the minute updates. The nominee area will also include streaming audio and kids can campaign for their favorites online by sending Kids' Choice postcards in support of their favorite nominees. By sending a postcard, kids automatically have the chance to instant win hundreds of Kids' Choice prizes.

Christopher Ralph Chat Transcript
2.23.00

Chat transcript for the Tobias/Christopher Ralph chat on the 16th has been released. Click Here to see (er...read...)...

Christopher Ralph Live Chat
2.10.00

Chat with Christopher Ralph (Tobias on Ani-Tv)! He will be available to chat, and be interviewed by you! At 7:00PM EST, he will be chatting here, on February 16th, and you can ask him questions! Check this picture out:

Season Two of Animorphs TV
1.22.00

On February 20th, Animorphs TV season two will strt off with a bang. The three-part, season one finale, Face Off, will be shown in an hour-and a half long 'Nick Flik'. Then, later season two will start with brand spankin' new episodes! Cool! (Thanks to MORPHz.com for this info...)

Animorph Video Game Info and Advertisement
1.14.00

More info on the Animorphs Playstaion game to come out. It is in production, and almost done! It will be on the market Spring of 2000, that's VERY soon. Thanks to Rachias, we have a new ad for the game found in the back of Book #38, The Arrival:

The ad states:

Take Control. In two unique games for your home computer or video game system.

Game 1- Help the Animorphs stop the Yeerk invasion and defeat Visser 3 and his evil forces.

Game 2- Visser 3 has found the power to warp reality. Only you and the Animorphs can restore the balance of time.

Thanks again to Rachias!

Game Boy Color Game to be Produced
1.13.00

We have been waiting for the Animorphs Playstation game for some time now, and many people are beginning to believe it's not gonna happen. Well, while we are waiting, why not have ANOTHER game. Yes, it's true. Nintendo has released that a new animorphs game will be released on Game Boy Color!

Scholastic Entertainment just signed a deal with Ubi Soft to make a GameBoy Color game based on Animorphs. The game, like the Playstation game Animorphs: Shattered Reality, will be action adventure. Ubi Soft will design, produce, and distribute the game, which is scheduled to be released some time next fall.

Speaking of the Playstation game, it's still being made and could be released as early as the end of February. (Thank you to Jordan for pointing this out to us. Thanks to Morphz for the info and text)

Virtual Time Capsule
12.29.99

The Animorphs Virtual Time Capsule, mentioned in the 'live' KAA Webcast, is open already. As stated in the KA Webcast, the original release date was January 1st, 2000. The Virtual Time Capsule is open on Dec 29, 1999. The Capsule replaces the deceased Sanctuary, and has entrys in it from the official Animorphs forum. Use the password knowledge to enter. The Capsule can be found at http://www.scholastic.com/animorphs/sanct00.htm

Sanctuary Closes
12.27.99

Sad news, in some peoples minds, to report today: The Official Sanctuary's time has ended. As said on the Official Page, The Sanctuary was suppose to last eight monthes. This eight month contract has ended, thus ending the updation of the Sanctuary. Did you wonder why it hasn't been updated for a while? This is the reason...

'Aurther' Correction
12.27.99

A correction to a past news headline: we had said that the information on the Vegemorphs on Aurther was from the The Kandrona, when it was actually first found on TNGtA (The Nothlit's Guide to Animorphs). Sorry about that!

David Returning?
12.24.99

KA has stated: "I think at some point I'm going to have to address the David issue, yes." when asked if David will return. In other words, look for David in future books...

KAA Webcast Info
12.24.99

The KA webcast is over, and it was a hit (in some peoples minds), and was also a flop (in others minds...)! To see information on this, go to: The KAA Webcast Highlighs page for more info!!

KAA's Age
12.23.99

KA Applegate is 45 years old! Cool, huh?

Kid's Cartoon Mentions 'Vegemorphs'

Arthur, a cartoon on PBS, shocked us all the other day when Arthur and his friend Buster were talking about books. What books? No, not Animorphs. But close! Vegemorphs! Click here to see a picture! (Thank you to the TNGtA for this info!)

Erek's First Start

Have you ever wondered exactly where KAA got the idea for Erek King, the android? Well, probally not. But, if you did, or if you are just curious, we have the reason why. Meet the 'real' Erek King. Click here. (Thank you to Animorphs Weekly Newsletter for this info!)

Animorphs Card-Game

A new Animorphs Customizable Card Game has been realeased. Click HERE for more info!

Sanctuary

For those of you that missed the deadline for "The Sanctuary" The old password was "2change". Sorry, but we can't tell you what the new one is, here. E-mail us.

Book Order to Change

It has been confirmed! The order of the Animorphs books will be changing after #45. Book #46 is Ax. The new order is Jake, Rachel, Tobias, Cassie, Marco, and then Ax.

-Alternamorphs 2 WILL be published. No other info on that, but Scholastic says this one hopes to better and less of a dissappointment to Animorphs fans.

MM4 Info

In Megamorph Four, somewhere or another: it will explain why Rachel and Marco aren't a couple.

Ani-Audio Books

Animorphs will soon be coming to your bookstore as audio books! Yes, a book on tape! The title of this audio book is The Andalites. It may be one of the Animorphs books, or it may be a new story all together!

New Characters? Not for a while...

KAA says that there will be no new Animorphs characters untill after book 46.

Video Game Screw-up