''The Reaction'' is the 12th book in the ''

Animorphs ''Animorphs'' is a science fantasy series of children's books written by Katherine Applegate and her husband Michael Grant, writing together under the name K. A. Applegate, and published by Scholastic. It is told in first person, with all ...

'' series, written by

K.A. Applegate Katherine Alice Applegate (born October 9, 1956), known professionally as K. A. Applegate or Katherine Applegate, is an American young adult and children's fiction writer, best known as the author of the ''Animorphs'', ''Remnants'', ''Everworld'' ...

. It is narrated by Rachel.

Plot summary

At the zoo, Rachel and Cassie witness a boy fall into the crocodile pit. Rachel jumps into the pit to rescue him. Out of sight, she acquires and morphs a

crocodile Crocodiles (family (biology), family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term crocodile is sometimes used even more loosely to inclu ...

, carrying the boy to safety. At a meeting later in the barn, the Animorphs focus on their latest news: Jeremy Jason McCole, a teen heart-throb, has become a new spokesman for The Sharing. The Animorphs feared this could make many join The Sharing, and they decide to stop it from happening. That night, Rachel suddenly finds herself morphing involuntarily into a crocodile, then directly into a

fly Flies are insects of the Order (biology), order Diptera, the name being derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwing ...

without returning to human form, a violation of morphing "rules", and then an

elephant Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae an ...

. She meets up with her father and has him get her on the Barry and Cindy Sue Show, which McCole will be on. Rachel tells Cassie what really happened, but she tells her not to tell Jake. Cassie agrees. The next day, the Animorphs spy on McCole's yacht to find Visser Three there. McCole tells the Visser he wants to become a Controller. Rachel suddenly finds herself involuntarily morphing into various animals, the last being a crocodile. Visser Three is alerted and morphs. The Visser is thwarted when Rachel bites him. Back at the barn, Ax diagnoses Rachel's condition. She is allergic to crocodile DNA, explaining her involuntary morphing, which happens when she is emotionally stressed or excited. Ax tells her she needs to expel the DNA from her body, a process known as the ''hereth illint''. Jake pulls Rachel off the mission until she undergoes the process. She lies to him the next day, pretending that it occurred overnight. The next day, Rachel is scheduled to be on the show. At the show, the ''hereth illint'' begins. Cassie rushes her to the bathroom, and Rachel "burps" the crocodile DNA. However, what Ax had not told Rachel was exactly how the DNA would come out of her: in the form of the actual animal acquired. In this case, to the girls' horror, Rachel expels a live crocodile. As it attacks her, she morphs a

bear Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Nor ...

, and Cassie morphs a

squirrel Squirrels are members of the family Sciuridae, a family that includes small or medium-size rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipmunks and prairie dogs, among others), and flying squirrels. Squ ...

. The crocodile runs onto the stage with Rachel and Cassie, causing a commotion. Ax kills the crocodile, and Rachel steps on McCole's Yeerk, killing him. The mission to stop McCole is a success. He retreats to

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...

Morphs

Allusions

*This story was used as an ''Animorphs'' TV episode (given the same title and using the same animal, the crocodile) but the episode had Cassie allergic to the morph rather than Rachel in the books; also, the allergy simply caused Cassie to morph randomly between her human and crocodile morph, rather than the random transformation from one morph to another that happened in the book. Also in the book Ax killed the crocodile but in the episode he didn't and ate a Yeerk. *Cassie's mom (Michelle) thinks Cassie is interested in a number of musical groups: The Fudgies, Snoopy Diggity Dog, Boys Eleven Men, and Nice Is Neat. {{DEFAULTSORT:Reaction (Animporphs) Reaction, The 1997 science fiction novels 1997 American novels