The Proposal

The Yeerks have decided to step-up recruitment in The Sharing-but it's not going to be celebrity endorsements this time. It's a cable TV show, one with a lot of interactivity: call-in and Web site.

The Animorphs and Ax are at a loss as to how to bring this threat down. The Yeerks have come up with a brilliant defense. The studio is in a large building with its own day care center. The day care center is right next to the studio and, to emphasize the family nature of the show, there's even a glass wall separating the studio from day care center. So now the Yeerks are hiding behind innocent children. The Animorphs and Ax cannot rist an attact. In any case, trashing a television studio won't accomplish anything.

Meanwhile, Marco has his own problems. Something Marco doesn't know how to deal with: His dad is dating. He has been for a while, and it's looking serious. The woman? Marco's new math teacher, Ms. Robinette. Marco seems unconcerned. The Animorphs and Ax wonder why he's not more upset. After all, he knows his mother is still alive, or at least he has reason to hope. But it just jokes it all away. No big deal. Even when he finds his father with a copy of Brides magazine, Marco acts as if it's all no big deal. But when Marco starts to have problems with his morphing, everyone knows something is wrong. In the middle of a battle with Controllers, he starts to morph into a gorilla and comes up with an animal that is half gorilla, half polar bear.

Of course, it's the stress that's getting to Marco. The very personal, unacknowledged stress at the thought of his dad remarrying. The reason he's fighting is the hope that someday, somehow, he can put his family back together again. That's when his dad decides on a sudden wedding. What will Marco say when the guests are asked whether anyone knows any reason why these two should not be joined in holy matrimony?