The Alien (Animorphs #8) [Paperback]

K.A. Applegate (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 1997 | Age Level: 9 and up

The Animorph kids are joined in their fight against the evil Yeerks by Ax, an Andalite who is stranded on earth until his alien pals return and who is seeking revenge against the alien who killed his brother. Original."

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks (July 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0590997289
• ISBN-13: 978-0590997287
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (84 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #71,359 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Katherine Applegate's many books include the Roscoe Riley Rules chapter book series, the picture book The Buffalo Storm, and the award-winning novel Home of the Brave. With her husband, Michael Grant, she wrote the hugely popular series Animorphs, which has sold more than 35 million copies worldwide.

Katherine was inspired to write The One and Only Ivan after reading about the true story of a captive gorilla known as Ivan, the Shopping Mall Gorilla. The real Ivan lived alone in a tiny cage for twenty-seven years at a shopping mall before being moved to Zoo Atlanta after a public outcry. He is now a beloved celebrity at the zoo, which houses the nation's largest collection of western lowland gorillas. Ivan is well known for his paintings, which he "signs" with a thumb-print.

Katherine lives in California with her husband and two children.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reader over 25, August 31, 2002

By 

"whuffie" (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Alien (Animorphs #8) (Paperback)

As always, I'm obviously way over the target age group. I'm taking the time to review each Animorphs book as I reread the entire series. My hope is to give parents, teachers, and anyone else the point of view of an adult who's outside the usual reading age for the series. Other reviewers have already given the overall plot, so I'm here with a few other thoughts. As other reviewers have commented, this book is very much about choices, and has a large dose of good humor involved. This is the first of the series which doesn't have heart pounding action and battles throughout the story, yet it remains just as entertaining. Ax is very amusing, and the story imaginative, giving readers a peek into Andalite culture and their people. Ax's race is one which holds rituals which are much different than our own, and honor is held in very high regard. It's a story about a young boy who is far, far away from his home, with his culture's heavy burdens which he must bear. The choices are huge to him, because someone once broke a law they now call Seerow's Kindness, and released a chain reaction which has made billions suffer for it. Should he, then, break that same law, even if he thinks its for the best -- even vital to the Animorphs winning the war? If he does, what repercussions will it have, because he ultimately doesn't understand who he's dealing with? The humans are as alien to him as Ax is to them. In an accident, he reprograms software for Marco's father. Ax thought it was nothing but a child's game to find all the errors, and fixed them in a few minutes. Not realizing what he did, he hands the ability for Zero Space travel to humanity. What if the Yeerks find out, for surely they will know it was an Andalite and not a human? In undoing that, he could also use it to call his parents, so far away. The book is about loneliness, too, in a way that everyone can relate to in some way. True to Animorphs style, however, its told through a young alien to make it new and interesting. There is also friendship, trust of utter outsiders on both sides, dealing with fears both huge (when Ax has to face Visser Three and doubts he'll survive) or small. Ax has to decide if he'll use the technology to call his people, another decision which goes against everything he'd been taught about Seerow's Kindness and his people's laws. There's laughter in this, a good story, and a whole lot more as the reader learns about Andalites first hand, and for the first time. A very excellent read and addition to the series.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WAY COOL!!!, June 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Alien (Animorphs, No 8) (Hardcover)

This book is one of my favorites, and if you read it, I'm sure it will be yours, too. The reason that I like this book is because 1) It shows how Ax feels about humans. 2) It has just the right amount of humor and suspence. 3) It described Ax's emotions(fear,anger,shame, lonelyness, ect.) very well. (Good job, KAA!) I suggest you get this book RIGHT NOW.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book, April 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Alien (Animorphs #8) (Paperback)

this book makes you realize just how weird us humans really are, even though we don't know it. Applegate does a really good description of how an alien on earth, with totally different costoms, religions, and perspectives might see humans. It also is an example of courage and presure and fame. And like I said earlier about costoms, it makes you look at ours, and that some don't make alot of sense. The things I've said so far are the very deep things in the book, but not only did the book have alot of meaning, it was also very funny. The author does a very good job of thinking like a kid, and an alien. I defenetly recommend it, along with all of the othe Animorph books!!!