INTRODUCTION

My name is Rachel. Who am I?

Just a kid. A kid with divorced parents and two little sisters. I go to school, do my homework, hang out with my friends. If you saw me I bet you wouldn’t look twice. Just another suburban mall rat.

Nothing special. Funny how that sounds like an insult. I bet you hate being ordinary. I bet you long for something to make you feel different and special. You’re probably just waiting for something exciting to happen to you. Be careful what you wish for.

One night something exciting did happen to me. I was given a weapon. A wonderful and awful weapon. The ability to morph, to change from an average kid into an animal. Into a bird or insect.

Only five human beings possess this weapon. Me; Cassie, my best friend; Jake, my cousin and our leader; Marco, our own personal clwon; and Tobias, our lost soul. Five humans unique in all the universe. Guess that makes us pretty special.

But along with the power to morph came a mission: Save the world. I’m not kidding. This is no joke. See, Earth is being invaded by the Yeerks, aliens with weak, repulsive bodies. Slugs. Parasites.

The Yeerks want our human bodies. Our strong legs and hands. Our sensitive ears, mouths, and eyes. They are taking over human hosts, entering their brains, controlling them, rendering them utterly helpless.

So we fight. The five of us humans and Ax, an alien kid. An Andalite. The Andalites battle the Yeerks throughout the galaxy. A war on too many fronts. One day the Andalites may send reinforcements to Earth. Until then, we fight alone.

Each battle changes us. Transforms us on the inside as much as on the outside.

War is not a video game. In a real war, you make desperate decisions and deal with desperate consequences. You spill blood and your blood gets spilled. You brush up against death. You change. You’re warped until ever being average and ordinary again is an impossible dream.