Rachel, Cassie, Tobias, Jake and Marco were thrown into the deep end of the weirdness pool when they encountered an alien threat to the world in book one of the Animorphs, The Invasion. Now it is up to them to gather as much information as they can, however they can, before more of their friends and family are taken over by the Hork-Bajir.

The closer they come to the truth hidden beneath the everyday façade of the town, the closer they come to discovery. When they finally infiltrate the heart of the aliens' plot will it ask too much of Rachel and her friends? But what choice do they have. No one will ever believe what is really going on, and how can they know who to trust anymore?

First published in 1996, Scholastic has reissued this wonderfully adventurous and deliciously scary science fiction series in a new format featuring a morphing almost 3-D illustration on each cover of the main character for each book. The Animorphs series has all the best elements of fiction for preteens, in my opinion. The kids are empowered to make a difference in their world, able to go above and beyond what they thought of as their limitations and learning quite a lot about the strength of friendship along the way. THE VISITOR is book two of six in the Animorphs series, and features Rachel.