I don't remember when exactly I started reading the Animorphs books but I remember them coming out periodically at intervals for a while, until eventually I caught up/fell out of reading them roughly about the time where the ghostwriters started. I remember being surprised to discover a few years after the series finished that it had finished, let alone that it had abruptly broken the status quo established at the beginning, where everything more or less "resets" after each adventure - I had assumed that it would go on ad infinitum and end with a deus ex machina because the writers wouldn't have the stomach for anything else, but neither turned out to be the case.

The first Animorphs book I ever read was #4, The Message, i.e., Cassie dolphin book. (Technically, each installment has a name but I identify them almost solely by their cover art.) The books are written in such a way you can pretty much pick them up wherever and figure it out, but starting here does have the side effect of making the first three books feel like Early Installment Weirdness (even more so than usual). So of course I did it again, then jumped to Megamorphs #1 - The Andalite's Gift, which is such a generic title. Thematically, both of these books feature Cassie Talking to Whales as a major plot point, so they actually work really well juxtaposed together, hahaha.

One interesting thing is how short the paragraphs are, which helps for a quicker read. The lack of description works for the whole "this is redacted for safety" vibes while also allowing the reader to fill in a lot of gaps in their head--I think I was vaguely aware that the books were set in California, but always imagined something more local and specific, which I think was the point, or at least a convenient side effect. It's funny because I always aim for descriptions in my own work to try and convey my mental images to readers, but sometimes the opposite effect is desirable!

These books are so 90s. The cover art using then-cutting edge software, the diverse group of kids hanging out by themselves at a mall, the various pop culture references... At the time, we didn't notice it because it was like water; since then things have changed so much that in some ways, it's barely recognizable, while others are all too relevant, sigh.

Anyway, we'll see if I end up reading more or not - if so, it'll be wildly idiosyncratic and out of order, but even just browsing the covers fills me with such nostalgia. It's so interesting what we internalize and carry with us, even when--especially when--we're not fully aware of it at the time.