Authors and Artists for Young Adults on K. A. Applegate
Katherine Applegate, who also writes as K. A. Applegate, has authored more than one hundred books. While her publications include romances for the Harlequin line, she has aimed most of her writing at middle-grade readers, penning some titles for the popular "Sweet Valley Twins" series and authoring several books featuring Disney characters. Applegate's most successful venture in juvenile fiction, however, has been her creation of the "Animorphs" series. These books, about young adolescents given the power by aliens to "morph" themselves into various animals, have rivaled R. L. Stine's "Goosebumps" series in popularity.
Applegate has completed many titles either in the "Animorphs" series or related to it, such as the "Megamorphs" series wherein the characters take turns narrating chapters, and the "choose-your-own-adventure" "Alternamorphs" series. Writing in Horn Book, Christine Heppermann attributed the series' success to this: "Readers can take what they want from it--the animal info or the aliens or the realistic adolescent dilemmas of crushes and problem parents. They can skim over the rest." According to Sally Lodge in Publishers Weekly, by the late 1990s, the series "reside[d] at the top" of that publication's "children's paperback series bestseller list, where booksellers predict it [would] roost for the foreseeable future."
The Origin of Animorphs
During an interview in Publishers Weekly, Applegate told Lodge where her idea for the "Animorphs" books came from. "I grew up loving animals and lived with the usual suburban menagerie of dogs, cats and gerbils," she confided. "I really wanted to find a way to get kids into the heads of various species and decided that a science-fiction premise was the way to do this." She worked up a plan for an entire series--which she initially called "The Changelings"--and submitted it, with rough drafts of chapters for several different novels, to Scholastic. Picked up by the publisher, Applegate's "Animorphs" series received heavy promotion from Scholastic, and the firm gave the books eye-catching, die-cut covers. But Jean Feiwel, a vice president at Scholastic, credited Applegate's skill in bringing to life the series' main concept with the success of "Animorphs." Feiwel explained to Publishers Weekly that the concept "is absolutely unbelievable but utterly possible. The notion of kids' morphing is also close to adolescent body changes in some ways. It is out of their control," the Scholastic staffer continued, "but becomes something quite fabulous--which is what you like to think happens in the process of growing up." Feiwel also noted that while the protagonists of "Animorphs" "may go off to defend the earth against aliens, at the end of the day they still have math homework to do."
One of the earliest novels in the "Animorphs" series, The Message, features a young woman named Cassie who is disturbed by strange messages in her dreams. Cassie eventually realizes that she is receiving a distress signal from the Andalites, the aliens that gave her and her friends morphic powers. She persuades her friends that they should change into dolphins in order to rescue their allies from an invading race of aliens, the Yeerks. Linda Bindner, reviewing The Message for School Library Journal, praised Cassie's portrayal, stating that "her struggles to come to terms with her decision are realistic and engaging." Bindner also judged that "the descriptions of becoming and living as dolphins and other animals are impressive."
Before embarking on the "Animorphs," Applegate authored a nonfiction work aimed at young people interested in the achievements of African Americans. The Story of Two American Generals: Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., and Colin L. Powell examines two African Americans who became pioneers in the United States Armed Forces. Sheilamae O'Hara, who critiqued the volume for Booklist, found it provided basic facts about its two subjects, and suggested that "libraries needing additional material on living black men of achievement may find it useful."
Popular Romance Series
Applegate was also selected to write the first novel in Harper's "Boyfriends and Girlfriends" series, later reissued as the "Making Out" series. This book, Zoey Fools Around, is composed of both a normal third-person narrative, and what a Publishers Weekly contributor described as "autobiographical fragments" from Zoey herself. Zoey, a senior in high school, has a long-time boyfriend named Jake; they live on a small island off the coast of Maine, where they are awaiting their graduation. The balance of the relationships between Zoey, Jake, and their circle of friends is upset when Lucas Cabral returns to their high school after spending two years in a juvenile facility because of his part in an alcohol-related accident that caused the death of Jake's older brother.
Zoey Fools Around also contains a subplot revolving around an African-American girl named Aisha, who is frightened of having a relationship with a boy who might prove to be her romantic destiny. Complicating matters further is Claire, who, in the words of a Publishers Weekly reviewer, "is more unhappy and confused than evil." The reviewer cited "better-than-average character development" in predicting that Zoey Fools Around would be "likely to hook its intended audience." The same cast of characters returns for more adventures in several additional titles in the series.
Another of Applegate's young adult efforts is Sharing Sam. In this novel, Alison is just starting to get to know Sam, the new guy who rides his own Harley Davidson motorcycle to their school in Florida, when she learns that her long-time best friend Izzy has developed brain cancer and has only a few months to live. When Izzy begins expressing interest in Sam, Alison decides to put her own desires on hold in favor of making her friend's last days as happy as possible. Alison manages to talk Sam into dating Izzy; meanwhile, Sam is dealing with the effects of the aging process on his much-loved grandfather and trying to face their inevitable parting. A contributor to Publishers Weekly praised Sharing Sam for the "thoughtful characterizations and the logical, not entirely strife-free way in which the premise is developed." Frances Bradburn, writing in Booklist, stated: "While adults will find the premise uncomfortable, teenage girls will be fascinated."
Applegate discussed with Lodge her feelings about writing for middle graders, calling her audience "the best readers on the planet. They are open-minded, imaginative and willing to embrace ideas." She also revealed that she enjoys the challenges presented to her by "Animorphs," because "a series writer has to develop plotting and pacing that become a well-oiled machine. You don't have the luxury of spending a year on a book and absolutely cannot indulge in writer's block. Yet I knew," Applegate continued, "I had to write in perfect language and choose just the right images, to make sure that my middle readers fell in love with the characters and returned again and again."
Applegate's most recent venture is the "Everworld" series. It mixes the fantasy of an alternative world where gods and wizards and all manner of mythical creatures abide, with the trials and tribulations of five present-day high schoolers. When the universe created by Earth's ancient immortals is invaded by creatures of myth that are not part of human tradition, the Norse god Loki recruits Senna Wales and her four friends from the real world. Discussing her new series on the Scholastic website, Applegate stated: "I felt it was time to come up with a follow-on, or companion series for 'Animorphs.' I knew I didn't want to do straight science fiction. I felt I should try my hand at fantasy, but I wanted contemporary characters. In other words, I didn't want the characters to belong in the fantasy environment, I wanted them to be from our own world. And I wanted them to continue to be part of the real world. So from there I just had to come up with a device to allow me to do that."
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