I remember when I first read Animorphs. My mom bought four books (#11-#14) years ago in one of those four-for-one deals. I think I read #11 once, but I was so young it was confusing and I couldn't really understand it. This was before the turn of century. Wow, saying that really does make me sound older than I really am.
Then, in 2001, around the time of 9/11 terrorist attacks, I had to read a book for some reason in school and either I chose or was given Animorphs #8. The Alien, the first book I was old enough to coherently read and understand. From that point on, I became a fan. I had my mom order a bunch of books over the Internet, like half of the series. I can still remember the excitement I felt waiting for those books to come, and the happiness I felt when they finally DID arrive in the mail, similar to what I feel now for my Star Wars books. I have some fond and very nostalgic memories of sitting around in my kitchen table, a quiet afternoon, sun shining, looking out the window every so often, and reading Animorphs. Those were some of the fondest times in my life. And then came the Blue Island fiasco in 2007, where they illegally impounded our U-Haul and we lost virtually EVERYTHING we owned. The only two books to survive that ordeal were the
Revenge of the Sith novelization, which even then was becoming quite worn and old (I bought it almost the day after the movie came out) and my recent acquisition,
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I have since then rebuilt my collection of Animorphs books, but I have still never been able to completely own all of the books in the series. I hope to own them all someday.