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The Diversion is the forty-ninth book Animorphs series. It is narrated by Tobias.

Official Description

The Yeerks are finally starting to realize that the "Andalite bandits" are probably not aliens at all. They're finally starting to realize that maybe they've been dealing with humans all along. And no one - especially the newly appointed Visser One - is happy with this knowledge. Not happy at all.

When Tobias, the other Animorphs, and Ax realize that the Yeerks are about to find them, it's by accident. But that doesn't make the discovery any less serious. Because in a war, one side wins. And one side loses...


Taken from http://www.scholastic.com/animorphs/books/animorphography/bk49.htm

Full Summary

The Yeerks begin to realize the "Andalite bandits" are humans. TheAnimorphs discover the Yeerks have been testing the DNA patterns in the blood they have left in their countless battles.

Animorphs 49 diversion inside cover only hi res

Lore and Tobias (morphed as Champ)

When they discover the traces of human DNA they begin running massive amounts of tests on blood which has been stored in the area in order to discover a genetic match or root out the Animorphs' families. Using this process a genetic match between Tobias and his mother, Loren, is discovered and gives the Yeerks proof that at least some the 'Andalite bandits' are in fact human. They go through a brutal battle at the laboratory where they discover this information in which Marco is nearly killed. After they retreat to Cassie's barn, Jake orders that they all go home and 'sleep on it', the Animorphs will meet in the morning to decide whether or not to evacuate their families thereby revealing their identities and taking the fight into the open.

Tobias does not return to his meadow but goes to the address the blood databank gave for his mother. He is crestfallen to discover that it is only a few blocks from the house in which he lived with his uncle yet his mother never once came to visit him or showed any interest in her son at all. Tobias easily spots that she is being watched by the Yeerks. He observes Loren leaving the house with a dog, and quickly realizes that Loren is blind. With the guide dog she walks to a church where she apparently volunteers as a crisis phone line operator, and Tobias follows her.

In the morning the Animorphs unanimously agree to immediately evacuate their families. Cassie and Rachel reveal to their families the truth of the invasion and evacuate them to the Hork-Bajir valley. Ax helps with rescuing Rachel's mother and sistersJake tries to rescue his parents as well with the plan that they will subdue Tom and starve the Yeerk out of him at long last freeing Jake's brother. But they appear to be out of the house when the Animorphs arrive, in fact Tom's Yeerk has already had Jake's parents infested and they spring a trap for the waiting Animorphs. They escape and Jake morphs falcon in front of the Yeerks, because he wants to show that he has been fighting all along to inspire fear in the Yeerks and hope in his family that he will rescue them.

Tobias morphs his mother's guide dog and spends the night at his mother's house. In the morning he finally meetsLoren, who he discovers had lost her memory in an accident years before. But she knew she did have a son, and hoped that he was happy. Tobias laments the fact that he never knew her, and tells her he needed a mother. Tobias then hatches a scheme to help Loren escape by giving her the morphing power. She morphs Tobias in hawk form and they embark on a desperate escape which leads to another battle that they barely escape. During the battle Loren throws herself in front of danger to protect Tobias and is nearly killed. Loren is then evacuated to the Hork-Bajir valley. The morphing ability restores Loren's vision, but not her memories. Tobias still longs for his mother's love and affection which she displays for her beloved guide dog but not for him, however Tobias remembers that she did throw herself in front of danger to protect Tobias. The book ends with Jake as an emotional wreck and the Animorphs safely evacuated to the Hork-Bajir valley with their families. Tobias sits beside Jake and thinks that he and Jake have almost switched places, Tobias has always been the loner without a family and now his family is here with him and Jake is all alone. Tobias reassures Jake that they will keep fighting and they will rescue his family

Morphs

Morpher Morphs acquired Morphs used

Jake

Fly, Hork-Bajir, Peregrine Falcon, Siberian Tiger
Rachel German Shepherd (Champ) Bald Eagle, African Elephant, Grizzly Bear
Cassie Fly, Hork-Bajir, Osprey, Wolf, 
Tobias German Shepherd (Champ) Human (Main), Fly, Hork-Bajir, German Shepherd (Champ)
Marco German Shepherd (Champ) Fly, Osprey, Hork-Bajir, Gorilla, German Shepherd (Champ)
Ax Fly, Northern Harrier, Hork-Bajir, Human (Main)
Loren Red-tailed hawk (Tobias) Red-tailed hawk (Tobias)
Visser One -- --

New characters

  • Granny-Controller
  • Tiffany
  • Ricky Lee
  • Champ

Trivia

  • The cover quote is, "This war can't go on forever. Will it be us? Or them...?"
  • The Yeerks learn the true identities of the Animorphs.
  • The inside cover quote is, "Nobody dogs Tobias--except Tobias..."
  • This is the final book to be fully narrated by Tobias.
  • A fan favourite, Loren makes a surprise return here from The Andalite Chronicles. Look out for another character close to Elfangor, from the same book, to make a significantly important appearance in #53: The Answer.
  • Their secret identities are finally out in this book, something which the Animorphs feared and carefully guarded from the very beginning.
  • ANIBASE: Introduced as a teenage girl in The Andalite Chronicles, we meet a very different grown up Loren in this book. After an accident rendered her blind and without her memories, she was deemed incapable of raising her son and eventually she went to live by herself in a run down neighborhood with her eye seeing dog, Champ. Now that she's morphed, the natural healing power of the morphing technology has made her capable of sight. Unfortunately, morphing doesn't repair memories as she still doesn't remember Tobias, and never will.
  • ANIBASE: The author of this book had this story to share about a particularly memorable scene from The Diversion:

    "Near the end of the book, when they charge through the toy store, Marco the gorilla jumps on a scooter and flies through the store. When I wrote the book, those little razor scooters hadn't jumped onto the scene yet. I was thinking of the old scooters you'd see in Leave it to Beaver or Little Rascals, and I imagined this scooter in this toy store being totally retro. But by the time the book was published, razor scooters were the big rage, so it turned out that I was almost cutting edge! It's one of the few times in my writing career where my timing has been perfect."

Gallery



Books
Main Series #1 The Invasion | #2 The Visitor | #3 The Encounter | #4 The Message | #5 The Predator | #6 The Capture | #7 The Stranger | #8 The Alien | #9 The Secret | #10 The Android | #11 The Forgotten | #12 The Reaction | #13 The Change | #14 The Unknown | #15 The Escape | #16 The Warning | #17 The Underground | #18 The Decision | #19 The Departure | #20 The Discovery | #21 The Threat | #22 The Solution | #23 The Pretender | #24 The Suspicion | #25 The Extreme | #26 The Attack | #27 The Exposed | #28 The Experiment | #29 The Sickness | #30 The Reunion | #31 The Conspiracy | #32 The Separation | #33 The Illusion | #34 The Prophecy | #35 The Proposal | #36 The Mutation | #37 The Weakness | #38 The Arrival | #39 The Hidden | #40 The Other | #41 The Familiar | #42 The Journey | #43 The Test | #44 The Unexpected | #45 The Revelation | #46 The Deception | #47 The Resistance | #48 The Return | #49 The Diversion | #50 The Ultimate | #51 The Absolute | #52 The Sacrifice | #53 The Answer | #54 The Beginning
Megamorphs The Andalite's Gift | In the Time of Dinosaurs | Elfangor's Secret | Back to Before
Chronicles The Andalite Chronicles | The Hork-Bajir Chronicles | VISSER | The Ellimist Chronicles
Alternamorphs The First Journey | The Next Passage
TV Tie-Ins Meet the Stars of Animorphs
Graphic Novels #1 The Invasion | #2 The Visitor | #3 The Encounter | #4 The Message
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