In the inaugural episode of Centipedes and Slugs, Maddie and Lydia haven’t yet settled on a title for this Animorphs podcast, but they have settled on their allegience to Taxxons and Yeerks. But they also support the Animorphs, they swear. While discussing The Invasion, Maddie tells us all about how Katherine Applegate and Michael Grant came up with this smash 90s hit, and Lydia tells us all about how Applegate and Grant get animal behavior (mostly) right, at least in this book. Just a heads up: there will be spoilers for the entire series.

Sources specific to this episode:

Katherine Applegate’s website

“Q&A with K.A. Applegate”, retrieved from Scholastic.com in June 2020

Katherine Applegate’s Reddit AMA

“Katherine Applegate on Winning the 2013 Newberry” by Diane Roback, Publisher’s Weekly, Jan. 29, 2013

“A Profile of Katherine Applegate” by Michael Grant, The Horn Book, July 11, 2013

“Writing about big issues through a gorilla, a giant cat and now — a tree” by Anya Sostek, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Oct. 25, 2017

“Animorphs creator looks back on the beloved series 20 years later” by Nivea Serrao, Entertainment Weekly, Dec. 28, 2016

“Our History”, retrieved from Scholastic.com in June 2020

“What Was It About Animorphs?” by Frankie Thomas, The Paris Review, Jan. 23, 2019