What's the Name of That Book??? discussion

Books were from the 1990s and I'm fairly confident there were 3. Each is a self contained story about an invasion attempt by robotic aliens, which are described as being like small droids which are torch or flashlight shaped (this stuck in my head as I found it very bizarre and unique at the time) and scurrying like rats in swarms. The series is narrated by children, one of them by a boy aged about 12 or 13. It is set in suburban USA and things start to go strange, basically only the children realise something dodgy is happening as adults are acting strangely, I think the robot aliens find a way to control them.

In the final book the aliens use a new tactic as the last two invasion attempts by the rat swarms had failed. A rising pop star girl turns out to be an android who was planted on earth for the invasion. I think her songs are brainwashing adults over the radio. I remember one scene where she is chatting happily over the radio (?? maybe on an old mobile phone) eating foil wrapped sweets, popping them into her mouth, but then the boy watches in horror as she absentmindedly eats them wrappers whole, without even noticing she's crunching the metal. This is one of the first clues that she is not as she seems. When she reveals herself to be an evil android plant she scares the children by squeezing lemon into her eyes to show that she's a robot not human. In the end the children defeat her and the invasion finally fails for good.

I only remember 2 books; the first one is "Grinny" and the second one is "You Remember Me". Both by Nicholas Fisk.
In "Grinny" the robot turns up disguised as an old-lady relative.https://www.fantasticfiction.com/f/ni...
In "You Remember Me" the children are now young adults, and the robot is a female television presenter with hypnotic powers.https://www.fantasticfiction.com/f/ni...

Sue wrote: "I only remember 2 books; the first one is "Grinny" and the second one is "You Remember Me". Both by Nicholas Fisk.
In "Grinny" the robot turns up disguised as an old-lady relative.https://www.fant..."

Yes this is it! Amazing how fast you found them, thank you. I was convinced there was three of them haha. Bit of a personal Mandela moment I guess. And amazing that I remember Lisa perfectly, but don't remember the granny AT all. Memory is so funny.

Glad you found your book series, Maddy. Goodreads link for Sue's find - book 1: Grinny by Nicholas Fisk.

"Grinny" series - https://www.goodreads.com/series/2498...