My name is Jake. I'm just a kid, really. I still play basketball and go to school and play video games at the mall. To anyone who looks at me, I'm just a normal kid.

But I'm not just a normal kid. I'm the leader of a small band of freedom fighters. We're the only hope Earth has against the Yeerk invasion. Sure, there are the Andalites. Elfangor told us from the start that within one or two years, the Andalites would come to rescue us. But sometimes I wonder. Sometimes I think that the Andalites don't really care.

Rachel told me once that I'm not even in high school yet, and I'm the most wanted figure in the Yeerk empire. Visser Three would trade his Blade Ship for my head on a stick. I don't doubt that, not even for a second.

I'm the leader of our group of "Animorphs." I didn't ask to be put there. There wasn't any sort of election. I guess that I'm just a natural leader. That's what my friends tell me. But I don't know. I don't really think that, but I guess everyone else does.

There's an enormous burden on me, you know? I mean, one tiny mistake, and my friends could all die. One little mess-up, and Earth is doomed. That's an awful lot of pressure.

I've persevered through it all. It's been tough, but I've kept going. But lately I've been wondering how much longer I can take. I'm still just a kid. I can hold this burden for a while, but I can't hold it forever.

I'm starting to weaken, and I know it. This weight on my shoulders seems to get heavier every day. I can't hold it much longer. Sooner or later, I'm going to break. I can feel it. Nobody else knows. Not my cousin, or my best friend, or even Cassie. But it will happen.

I guess I'm being kind of monotonous. I've been saying the same things over and over. You probably think I'm being pretty boring. You might even think that I've broken already, the way I'm spilling my guts to you. I don't know. Maybe I have already broken. Maybe it's already got to me. Maybe I've already gone mad. I don't know for sure. But I have a question for you.

Why me?