The Message (Animorphs , No 4) [Mass Market Paperback]

K.A. Applegate (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 9 and up | Series: Animorphs

The wildly popular series by K.A. Applegate is back!

It all started with the dreams. But Cassie didn't pay much attention to them. She and her friends have been having nightmares ever since they acquired the power to morph. But when Cassie discovers that Tobias has been having dreams, too — the exact same dreams — about the ocean, and a voice that's calling to them for help, she decides it's time to start listening. Now she and the others have to figure out if the dreams are a message, or a trap.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-6. This addition to the popular sci-fi/fantasy series continues the adventures of five young people who have acquired the power to morph into animal forms from their alien friends, the Andalites. This power has helped them to survive and keeps the evil Yeerk invaders at bay. Then Cassie starts hearing strange and disturbing messages in her dreams and realizes that she is receiving a distress call from a stranded Andalite. With Jake's encouragement, she decides that they must try to rescue the alien before it is killed by the Yeerk's leader. Danger mounts as they enter the ocean as dolphins to start their search, and Cassie suddenly understands what it means to be a leader. She is truly afraid of being responsible for this mission and for her friends, and her struggles to come to terms with her decision are realistic and engaging. Though the five children are stock characters, and the conflict is thinly developed in parts (readers never hear what the message really imparts), the descriptions of becoming and living as dolphins and other animals are impressive, as is the group's knowledge that their special powers are in reality powerful weapons not to be used lightly. Average series fare.?Linda Bindner, Athens Clarke County Library, GA
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

Praise for Animorphs

"Engaging... impressive." — School Library Journal

"There's clearly something about Animorphs that has kept kids enthralled." &mdash Publishers Weekly

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks; 4th Printing edition (October 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0590629808
• ISBN-13: 978-0590629805
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #70,015 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 One of the Best, January 9, 2005

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Message (Animorphs , No 4) (Mass Market Paperback)

This is one of the best books in the Animorphs. It is also a crucial part of the series. I have read this book at least ten times. Cassie is my favorite Animorph, and this is the first book told from her point of view. It's generally about the Animorphs adventuring under the sea to find out whether someone is down there calling to them, but there were lots of smaller bits that I really liked.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Down in the deep blue sea..., April 1, 2000

By 

Philzurfer (VA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Message (Animorphs , No 4) (Mass Market Paperback)

Cassie, Jake, Rachel, Marco, and Tobias have been given the power to morph, change nto any animal they touch. They have to use this power to defeat the Yeerks, a slug-like species who wants to control the human race by taking over their brains. They have been through terrible things and have had strange dreams as a result. But when Cassie and Tobias start having the same dream about the sea, the Animorphs (the kids) decide to investigate. All of them (except for Tobias who is stuck as a hawk) morph dolphins and swim in the ocean looking for whoever sent those dreams. Is he friend or foe? "The Message" is just like all the others in the series: super thriller!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Rescue, November 8, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Message (Animorphs , No 4) (Mass Market Paperback)

The fiction book I have read is Animorphs The Message. In this book a girl named Cassie and her friends try to save whatever is calling Cassie in her dreams from the bottom of the ocean. At first the others dont believe her but one of their friends Tobias also says he's having the same dreams.The kids morph into dolpins and go into the ocean and try to save what they think is a andilite. They incounter a life threatning battle with sharks and Marcoe gets injured so badly he almost dies. They try to finish what they started before it's to late and Visser Three finds them. I reccomend this book to a 5th or 6th grader. Also for whoever likes suspenseful action filled books. If you do like this book I inspirer you to read the whole series.