ANIMORPHS: The Monster and the Child at War

Описание: Animorphs: is it a) fun middle-grade sci-fi, b) millennial nostalgia fuel, or c) a sprawling epic about the horrors of war for children? Answer: all of the above! I dive into the way the series contrasts constructions of "normal" American adolescence with the moral and ethical degradation of wartime. This series explores the permeable boundaries of identity between human and animal, child and soldier, and hero and monster.

Remember to ask questions in the comments for my Ask Me Anything video, coming up in two weeks! Mark these questions with "AMA" so I don't miss them.

Patreon: www.patreon.com/c/TheMonsterAndTheChild

Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction
05:35 - From Mall Rats to Soldiers
29:52 - "There's Something Pretty Dark Down Inside You"
56:58 - Conclusion

Media discussed:
Animorphs by K.A. Applegate (1996-2001)

References:
Applegate, K.A. (2001). Letter to Fans. https://www.hiracdelest.com/database/...
Bergmoser, G. (2021, Oct. 22). Animorphs - A Reading Guide. Gabriel Bergmoser: Blog. https://www.gabrielbergmoser.com/blog...
Hazer, L. & Gredeback, G. (2023). The effects of war, displacement, and trauma on child development. Humanities & Social Sciences Communications, 10, 909.
List of Ghost Writers. Seerowpedia: The Animorphs Wiki. https://animorphs.fandom.com/wiki/Lis...
Ostry, E. (2023). "Billions of Lives Weighed against the Ethics of Six 'Kids...'": The Moral Universe of the Animorphs. Children's Literature Association Quarterly, 48(4), 412-434.
Rosen, D.M. (2015). Child Soldiers in the Western Imagination. Rutgers University Press.

Transcript: https://kathleenwriting.com/2025/12/1...