Jake Berenson - Personal Life and Family

Personal Life and Family

His father, Steve Berenson, works as a pediatrician, and becomes a Controller late in the series. His mother, Jean Berenson, works as a freelance writer, also becoming a Controller late in the series. Jake has a brother, Tom Berenson, who is a Controller from the beginning of the series.

Jake's uncle, Dan (brother of Steve), is a news anchor. He is divorced and lives by himself. In #7, when he was moving out, he offers Rachel the opportunity to stay with him and fly back every weekend to see her mother and sisters, but Rachel declines. Jake's aunt by marriage, Naomi, is an extremely headstrong and contentious lawyer. When she is forced to hide in the Hork-Bajir valley, she tries to escape a few times.

Jake's cousins include Rachel, a fellow Animorph (deceased), Jordan, who is two years younger than Rachel, and Sara, who is younger than Jordan. His other cousin, Saddler (by an unknown sibling of Dan and Steve, either his mother Ellen or his father George), received life-threatening injuries in #21, The Threat. David acquired and morphed the wounded Saddler, briefly masquerading as him and allowing his family to believe he'd miraculously recovered. The family would have suffered further grief when David became trapped as a nothlit, causing 'Saddler' to disappear without explanation. The real Saddler has never been seen again and is presumed dead. Cousins Justin, Brooke, and Forrest are siblings of Saddler.

Jake's great grandfather, Grandpa G, was the father of Jean's mother. Grandpa G was a veteran of World War II whom Jake admired and respected greatly. He died in book 31 and the family left town to attend his funeral. Grandpa G had a granduncle Isaiah Fitzhenry who fought for the Union in the American Civil War. Jake found and read Isaiah's wartime diary in book 47.