A boy's encounter with powerful tribal magic transforms him into his spirit animal—and lands him in the middle of a war between humans and beasts with supernatural powers

When his father is called to active duty in Vietnam, Cory Alder leaves Florida to live with his adopted Native American uncle, Jasper. Jasper's Idaho ranch is like a foreign country. Cory is afraid of the cougars, bears, and wolves; he doesn't like the big mountains and doubts he'll ever be able to ride a wild horse. Then he meets an old Nez Perce Medicine Man called Black Elk, who catapults Cory into an alternate universe where animals live in tribes, hunt, and go on the warpath. Transformed into a beaver called Yellow Shell, he learns to speak their language and discovers that they all fear the legendary Changer, who plots to reshape the creatures of both the human and animal realms and use them for his own nefarious ends.

With two worlds hanging in the balance, Cory...