Aging and Animorphs!

[Unknown User]

So, a quick question from a curious cat. The original Animorphs fan base is older now (mid-late teens/ early twenties) do you still read the animorphs even though they were intended for a bit of a younger audience? If so, do you get a little embarrassed when someone comments? I am currently rereading the series and have gotten several Your-a-little-old-for-those-books comments. The animorphs has almost become my guilty pleasure. Does anyone else feel like they'll still be reading the books in their thirty's?

[King D]

I just finished rereading the entire series today actually but I read them on my iPod Touch so no one actually can tell what I'm reading. 

[Unknown User]

Brilliant idea, why didn't I think of that?

[AniDragon]

I got made fun of for reading Animorphs even when it was in it's prime, and I was part of it's target audience. So... yeah. I got over the embaressment of getting made fun of for reading it a LONG time ago.

[medomai]

When I started re-reading them within the last two weeks, my family didn't seem to care. My roommates made fun of me for about a day, but they didn't mean it.

The only thing that even compares was a couple nights ago. Some of us were doing some filming, and my part was mostly over, so I was sitting along the wall, kinda bored. So I texted one of my friends, and asked her how she was doing, and said that I was filling the time by daydreaming about being an Animorph.

Her: "You're such a nerd."
Me: "No I'm not, Animorphs is the best thing ever."
Her: "No they're really not."
Me: "I have no response to your obvious lack of taste."
Her: "Well, I guess i'd agree if i was an eight year old boy. Who was a longer and totally a science geek. Since i'm not any of those i heartily disagree."
Me: "It totally targets more than that demographic, seeing as I am a nineteen year old female."
Her: "I'm just saying in my life experience that's when they were popular. And seeing as you're the ONLY person i've ever heard over ten liking it..."
Me: "My love has remained strong over the years."
Her: "With the fact that you're the exception. Not me. So. If anything i should be baffled by your love for them. Not [sic] vise versa."

other conversation

Me: "And I'm okay with being a nerd."
Her: "Good cuz you just went up like 150% on my geek meter."

And that's basically it. She thinks I'm lame, I know it's her loss. =P I'm just not that embarrassed, I guess mostly since teasing is the primary love language in my friend circle.

[comet266]

I just finished rereading the entire series today actually but I read them on my iPod Touch so no one actually can tell what I'm reading. 

That's what I do too...I think half the reason why the books get so much grief is because of the style the books were published in and the pictures on the cover.

[Unknown User]

Welcome to the Forum medomai, I've gotten alot of that kind of teasing myself, but animorphs just won't release its hold on me. The cool thing about my new foray into the series is that my brother is kind of getting into the books now that he has seen me reading them.

So, any more opinions on aging and the Animorphs?

[Cloudbreaker]

If anyone starts to make fun of me for reading Animorphs even though I'm in my twenties, I just tell them that a good book is a good book no matter how old you are.  They usually leave me alone after that.  I think they are usually mostly just curious as to why I am reading a kid's book anyway, but just don't know how to ask about it without feeling geeky themselves.

[WildAtHeart]

most people i know just get all excited when they see me with them because they read them as kids. they don't re-read them now though.

if anyone did say anything negative, i would just ask them why they read Harry Potter then (if they read HP lol) because i noticed when i go to Borders, HP is grouped with the intermediate books rather than young adults.

[Loligo]

I guess I'm lucky...no one's ever really said anything about me reading Animorphs before. Even in my early days when I began to write fanfiction, my sister acted as a beta and read the books along with me. Nowadays, I read the e-books, so I guess people just don't know that I still read them?

And seeing as you're the ONLY person i've ever heard over ten liking it...

Does she know about this forum? 

[dragonarmy]

Not embarrassed in the slightest. I'm 24 years old, and every Saturday, I hit up 3 different thrift stores in 3 different towns on lookout for the books so I can restock my collection (I threw out almost all of them except the Tobias ones out when I moved -- because I was an IDIOT). I don't really care about walking around stores with them. Yesterday, in fact, I had a conversation with the checker about Animorphs.

My sister and one of my friends actively search for them for me, too, both in twenties and thirties. They've never read them, but know that I like them, so they usually come back with at least one or two whenever they go to the thrift stores. They don't seem to be embarrassed about carrying them around, either.

[comet266]

Not embarrassed in the slightest. I'm 24 years old, and every Saturday, I hit up 3 different thrift stores in 3 different towns on lookout for the books so I can restock my collection (I threw out almost all of them except the Tobias ones out when I moved -- because I was an IDIOT). I don't really care about walking around stores with them. Yesterday, in fact, I had a conversation with the checker about Animorphs.

My sister and one of my friends actively search for them for me, too, both in twenties and thirties. They've never read them, but know that I like them, so they usually come back with at least one or two whenever they go to the thrift stores. They don't seem to be embarrassed about carrying them around, either.

How many total do you have now?

[stardust86]

I'm a 23 year old female and not embarrassed at all!
When I moved off to college, I gave most of mine to a local used bookstore because I was an IDIOT and thought they were childish, but over the last 5 years I've been slowly getting them back. In college I'd find passages from the books popping into my head and it would drive me nuts that I no longer had the books to reread them (#5 The Predator is my favorite, and Marco is my favorite character, albeit the one I am least like).
I've been teased occasionally for still reading them, but I figure a lot of people my age don't read ANYTHING, so why should I be ashamed to read good books?
I've also found a friend (my age and gender) who still reads them so I know I'm not alone!

[Cloak]

I ignore any, and am completely indifferent to them.  That goes to those Mallorian idiots out there too.  If it has a story I find interesting -- I don't care which age group it's directed at -- chances are I'll read/watch it.

Some of these "you're-too-old-for-that-book/show" people really have their heads up their butts and some are covering for liking the book/show themselves, and don't want to be seen as "uncool" -- where being seen as uncool really doesn't faze me anymore, because I simply don't care about it.

When I started re-reading them within the last two weeks, my family didn't seem to care. My roommates made fun of me for about a day, but they didn't mean it.

The only thing that even compares was a couple nights ago. Some of us were doing some filming, and my part was mostly over, so I was sitting along the wall, kinda bored. So I texted one of my friends, and asked her how she was doing, and said that I was filling the time by daydreaming about being an Animorph.

Her: "You're such a nerd."
Me: "No I'm not, Animorphs is the best thing ever."
Her: "No they're really not."
Me: "I have no response to your obvious lack of taste."
Her: "Well, I guess i'd agree if i was an eight year old boy. Who was a longer and totally a science geek. Since i'm not any of those i heartily disagree."
Me: "It totally targets more than that demographic, seeing as I am a nineteen year old female."
Her: "I'm just saying in my life experience that's when they were popular. And seeing as you're the ONLY person i've ever heard over ten liking it..."
Me: "My love has remained strong over the years."
Her: "With the fact that you're the exception. Not me. So. If anything i should be baffled by your love for them. Not [sic] vise versa."

other conversation

Me: "And I'm okay with being a nerd."
Her: "Good cuz you just went up like 150% on my geek meter."

And that's basically it. She thinks I'm lame, I know it's her loss. =P I'm just not that embarrassed, I guess mostly since teasing is the primary love language in my friend circle.

So, not very bright, is she?  There are these kind of detractors in everything from Animorphs to Pokemon to Power Ranger to -- to some franchises I'm probably not even thinking off . . .

[Terenia]

It doesn't bother me. I spent half of the day Friday drawing an Andalite picture at work while my students looked on. Marie and I talk shamelessly about Animorphs in public places. When I was in elementary/middle school I got made fun of, and that was at the height of it's popularity (Goosebumps was so much more en vogue in my school district), so I got over it. Now I use scoffing as an opportunity to discuss all the great ways you can tuck mature themes into kids books.

[RYTX]

Keeping this short as I know how

So, a quick question from a curious cat. The original Animorphs fan base is older now (mid-late teens/ early twenties) do you still read the animorphs even though they were intended for a bit of a younger audience?

Yes

If so, do you get a little embarrassed when someone comments?

I was more embrassed about it when I was younger (14-17 maybe) Now, you know what, most peoples don't care, and to those who do, oh well it makes me happy so now I laugh and try to give them a series synopsis before being shut up

Does anyone else feel like they'll still be reading the books in their thirty's?

Assuming I live that long, I guarantee it.

[Dancinggal]

I'm a 24 year old female, and haven't really been given a hard time by anyone for reading these books still. I had to recollect them in my late teens (after having sold most of them) and bookstore owners were giving me weird looks, but it never fazed me. I have two friends who still see great value in the series, and we sometimes still discuss the books! If I'm reading them on the train, I do get people looking at me like I'm weird, because I'm this grown up person in a suit reading these 'kids' books. Several guys have actually started up conversations with me over them. So generally, a good response. If someone can't understand that children's books can contain mature and interesting themes, they don't understand much about what literature can achieve.

[Hewlett Aldershot III]

The girlfriend gives me flak sometimes, but all in all, no embarrassment on my part.
To be fair, it helps that my roommate is also into animorphs, so whenever we shoot ideas off of eachother and everyone rolls their eyes, neither of us care.

[medomai]

Thanks for the welcomes, all. I'm really not bothered by my friend, like I said. She's not into sci-fi anyway as a rule, and we are pretty darn sarcastic all the time. The next day, I mentioned that I'd found ebooks of the entire series and she's like, 'why do you text me updates on things like this' and 'I don't think we can be friends anymore' and all that, and I joked back. It's all good. No real embarrassment. I don't know, maybe it's the university environment, but no one really cares.

[ThinkAgain]

I only have 4 hard copies of books, so I can't really read them abroad. A friend did see the E-Books on my computer, and it sort of brought up a sort of nostalgic conversation (he had read most of them years ago).