Shifter

by B. Zaras

Life for fourteen-year-old Josh Abernathy has never been simple. He's skinny, nerdy, unpopular. His dad died when he was seven, and Josh misses him every day. His mom remarried a total jerk whose idea of fun is torturing Josh when she's not around. The one light in his life, his little sister, worships him, but his stepdad doesn't let Josh spend time with her. So, yeah, life sucks for Josh. To top things off, after an argument with his stepdad, Josh discovers something bizarre...that he can shapeshift into a dog. And he has no idea where this new ability came from, let alone how to control it. As if all of that weren't bad enough, one night at dinner Josh's stepdad declares they're all moving from the only home Josh has ever known and are heading to California. The problem is, on moving day, Josh is left behind...but as a dog. No one realizes the skinny German Shepherd hanging around is him. And for some reason, this time he can't seem to figure out how to change back into a human. But Josh is determined to get to his new home, no matter what shape he happens to be in. Nothing is going to stop him...not even the group of shape-shifters he runs into down the road, who claim Josh as one of their own, and insist he stay with them. His only hope of escape is an enigmatic, smart mouthed girl who doesn't seem to like Josh's intrusion on her life...but without her, Josh is as good as lost forever, with no way home.