K.A. Applegate Quotes & Sayings

Stan is a rescue Chihuahua mix. He was the role model for Bob, the dog in 'Ivan.' The drawings in the book look precisely like Stan. — K.A. Applegate

I live in a high-rise apartment building, so I just have two cats. They're both pound kitties. One of them, Dick, is an evil, foot-biting cat. When I write a tiger morph, I'm always imagining Dick. — K.A. Applegate

Well here is a good quote, Why wouldn't they help me? — K.A. Applegate

When we have financial struggles, kids are so much more aware of things than we want them to be. — K.A. Applegate

Well, I'm guessing hat in about two centuries or so, humans will discover zero space and make transponders. Whatever they are. But in the meantime, I'm going to have a sandwich."

-Animorphs #5, The Predator page 34 — K.A. Applegate

I've got to believe I'm the first person to win the Newbery who has written a Harlequin romance! — K.A. Applegate

It occurred to me that a food drive would be a natural way to talk to kids about hunger, which so many of them simply aren't aware of. — K.A. Applegate

Who has stopped worshiping us?"
"Everyone in the old world," April said little harshly.
"But of course they have, young woman. We left, didn't we? We came to Everworld. How can you expect people to worship a God they can't see from time to time?"
"Yeah April," Jalil prodded, failing to suppress a smirk. "How can you? — K.A. Applegate

I really love writing, but I am very easily distracted: my two cats fighting, a rainbow, a TV show ... I have to use every trick to keep myself at the computer. — K.A. Applegate

The knights nodded with exaggerated casualness, showing respect for the wizard but not fear. Or so they thought. The fear came in the way they parted for the old man, took a half step back without really thinking about it.
That's one of the things you learn to do when you study acting. You watch the nonverbal cues. That's what gives a performance depth. The knights were all like, "Hey, Merlin, what's up?" But get past the easy words and bluff tone and you saw faces drawn back, bodies turned at an angle to protect the vitals, an unconscious cringe. — K.A. Applegate

I wanted so much to live. I wanted so much to stay and not to leave. In a moment no answer would matter to me, but just the same, I wanted to know what I guess any dying person wants to know.
"Answer this, Ellimist: Did I . . . did I make a difference? My life, and my . . . my death . . . was I worth it? Did my life really matter?"
"Yes," he said. "You were brave. You were strong. You were good. You mattered."
"Yeah. Okay, then. Okay, then. — K.A. Applegate

What do we lose without wild animal acts at the circus? Absolutely nothing, except the opportunity to be haunted and heartbroken. — K.A. Applegate

I think most writers will say that at the start of each book they think, 'I'm not sure I can do this.' But eventually, you reach a magical point where the story suddenly becomes real to you, and you become totally invested in it. — K.A. Applegate

One of the reasons I love writing for middle graders, besides their voracious appetite for books, is their deep concern for fairness and morality. — K.A. Applegate

I think we have a real obligation when we do have animals in captivity to understand their needs and to care for them as well as we can. — K.A. Applegate

I tend to write short, brief snippets - I lean toward the chamber music end as opposed to the symphony end of things. — K.A. Applegate

I think I was 9, and my mom ordered them for me from a catalogue. They bred like crazy, and I was selling gerbils all around Michigan. They wrote a story about me in the local newspaper. — K.A. Applegate

Senna reached for David's hand. I got up, dragged my chair over, and shoved in between them. This brought a faint nod from Merlin.

~Everworld, Enter the Enchanted — K.A. Applegate

I hope kids feel gratitude for what they do have. — K.A. Applegate

Jake, I don't want to be a bug. I've been a gorilla, an osprey, a dolphin, a seagull, a trout, of all things, a lobster... and I'm probably forgetting a few. Gorilla was fun. Dolphin was fun. Osprey was fun. Ant? Not fun. Basically, bugs are a bad idea."

Jake shrugged. "I was a flea. That was no big thing.

...

"Jake? Do you ever listen to yourself?"

-Animorphs #5, The Predator page 36 — K.A. Applegate

When I was a child, going to a circus with wild animal acts was a rite of passage. These days, it's an act of complicit cruelty. — K.A. Applegate

I think having imaginary friends is an amazing coping mechanism. It's pretty wonderful, and it makes a lot of sense to me. — K.A. Applegate

And that we call enos ermarf."

"What?" I didn't see what he was pointing at.

"That. The way the lake curves forward into t grass, framed by derrishoul trees."

"You have a word for something like that?" I asked.

-Animorphs #4, The Visitor page 63 — K.A. Applegate

Hunger and homelessness aren't things we always want to talk about. — K.A. Applegate

Jake assumed that he would be the one to die. Marco had seen this instantly. He wasn't arguing in favor of the awful future we'd seen. He was arguing for the life of his best friend. — K.A. Applegate

I grew up in an affluent suburban world and never worried about money until I'd grown up and found wonderfully original ways to screw up my life. — K.A. Applegate

I was writing at a really young age, but it took me a long time to be brave enough to become a published writer, or to try to become a published writer. It's a very public way to fail. And I was kind of scared, so I started out as a ghost writer, and I wrote for other series, like Disney 'Aladdin' and 'Sweet Valley' and books like that. — K.A. Applegate

I think all writers write from the time they're really young, and you just start asking the question, 'What if?' — K.A. Applegate

We know about the socially complex lives of elephants: how they communicate, how they bond, how they even seem to grieve. We have ethologists in the field and activists on the ground to thank for that knowledge. — K.A. Applegate

Must I carry this?" he asked, indicating his empty coffee cup.

"No, you can just throw it away."

Bad choice of words. Ax threw the coffee cup. He threw it hard. It hit one of the cashiers in the head.

"Hey!"

Sorry, it was an accident, man," I yelped.

-Animorphs #5, The Predator page 20 — K.A. Applegate

I grew up with a menagerie of dogs, cats, gerbils - not to mention three younger siblings. — K.A. Applegate

That penetrating gaze, that intelligence; it's hard not to be anthropomorphic when you're looking at a great ape - at any primate - but especially with gorillas. They're just so magnificent. — K.A. Applegate

I was sure I wanted to grow up to be either a veterinarian or a writer. In fact, I worked for a vet during high school, doing everything from cleaning cages to assisting in surgery. — K.A. Applegate

Tobias said.

I nodded and wiped away my tears. "Yeah," I said. "Until then, we fight. — K.A. Applegate

As a species, we can at times be dimwitted and cruel. But we're also capable of learning. — K.A. Applegate

Gorillas may seem terrifying because of their bodies, but they are really magnificent and very gentle. — K.A. Applegate

At the end of the day, I'd love to see children stop begging their parents to go to the circus. That's what would make me most happy. — K.A. Applegate

I love any excuse to come to New York - when it's not February. — K.A. Applegate

I think younger readers connect so readily to animal characters because they share a certain vulnerability, particularly when it comes to adult humans, who can be a rather unpredictable lot. — K.A. Applegate

One of my first paid gigs was writing psychology quizzes for 'YM,' a monthly teen magazine like 'Seventeen.' — K.A. Applegate

Then he drank the coffee.

"Ahhh! Ohh! Oh, oh, oh, what? What? What is that?!"

"What?" I asked, alarmed. I swiveled my head back and forth, looking for some danger.

"A new sense. It... I cannot explain it. It is... it comes rom this mouth." He pointed at his mouth. "It happened when I drank thsi liquid. It was pleasant. Very pleasant."

-Animorphs #5, The Predator page 19 — K.A. Applegate

I hate to witness animals in captivity - or see circus elephants paraded down the streets. When animals are caged, it's a loss of what they are. — K.A. Applegate

He's not the only one who's got people to worry about," Rachel said. "I have a family. We
all do."
"Not me," Tobias said softly. He smiled his sad, crooked smile. "It's true. No one gives a rat's
rear about me."
"I do," Rachel said. — K.A. Applegate

You needed love to win at the game of music ... I played of sadness. I played of loneliness. Despair. Love found and lost. I played of tragic misunderstanding and weary cynicism and defeat. I played of perseverance, endurance beyond all suffering. Endurance in the face of hopelessness, hope when even hope was a betrayal ... And yet, though I played so much sadness, the music at the same time denied despair. How could anyone despair while music was being played? — K.A. Applegate

Battles that involve oatmeal are just never going to end up being historic, you know?" Jake went on. "Gettysburg? No major oatmeal involvement. The Battle of Midway? Neither side used oatmeal. Desert Storm? No oatmeal. — K.A. Applegate

Life, even in Everworld, wasn't a romance novel. I guess romance writers imagine that being rescued is a big rush, a kind of thrill that will just send you into a state of uncontrollable desire. But here I was, all alone with a shockingly handsome man who had just saved my life. A knight, no less. And mainly I just felt tired. — K.A. Applegate

I saw Jake in the hallway at school. I pretended not to notice him.

I saw Rachel, too. She had a dark look in her eyes. Like she hadn't slept. Like something was really wrong.

Even Cassie seemed grim. It had gotten to all of us. It's not so easy to just forget terror. It's not easy to just ignore the memory of your leg being ripped off. Of being dismembered. Torn apart.

One of these days, I thought, one of us is going to go crazy. Totally lock-me-up-in-a-rubber-room nutso. It was too much. This wasn't how life was supposed to be.

One of us would snap. One of us would lost it. It could happen, even to strong people.

-Animorphs #5, The Predator page 52 — K.A. Applegate

Scientists believe that sharks are one of the oldest species of animals still in existence. Nature built them as perfect predators. Perfect killing machines. Nature hasn't had to revise or update them much. They were built right the first time.

Dolphins are very different. Scientists say that millions of years ago, dolphins were land animals. Sea mammals not very different from humans and other mammals. They evolved their way back into the ocean. Part of that evolution included learning to cope with predators, with killer whales and sharks.

I don't now what sea the Taxxon race evolved in. I don't know what natural predators they faced there. But they were not ready for this ocean. They were not ready to go one-on-one with the masters of Earth's deep seas. They were no match for dolphin or shark.

-Animorphs #4, The Visitor page 69 — K.A. Applegate