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For the past six months, something has been happening to teens in Santa Feliz. Seventeen-year-old Josh Saunders has seen the news reports, but he is still unprepared when it happens to him. One minute he's arguing with his mother's boyfriend and the next, he's looming over the man, blood dripping from his claws -- he has transformed into a mountain lion.

When Josh switches back to his human body, he knows his life has changed forever. He has become a Wildling. Pursued by both government authorities and criminal factions, Wildlings must hide their newfound abilities to avoid being locked up for study and experimentation. When an accidental betrayal reveals Josh's secret, his carefully constructed cover is ripped apart, forcing his friends to intervene. They must grudgingly put their trust in other Wildlings -- and, most challenging, each other -- if they ever hope to save him.

Life is complicated in the once-quiet beach town of Santa Feliz. Over the past six months many teens have inexplicably become animal shape-shifters known as Wildlings. The town is rife with fear, and Wildlings have quickly learned to keep their animal identities hidden or face persecution.

Now that Josh Saunders has a mountain lion living under his skin, his life seems to careen from one crisis to another. His best friends have just helped him narrowly escape cruel medical experimentation, and now that he's back home Josh wants at least a few more days of living like a normal teenager. But the FBI is tailing him, a vengeful school bully is out to hurt and expose him, and a formidable Wildling Elder has secretly arranged to have him killed by the hand of one of his own Wildling friends.

In Charles de Lint's dramatic follow-up novel to Under My Skin, Josh must confront all the inherent dangers of his new life, including violent street gangs and the threat of treachery on the part of some his very best friends. His longtime confidante, Marina, is once again keeping secrets from him, and as Josh discovers how to harness and wield his newfound powers, he faces crucial decisions about the bonds of leadership, love and loyalty.

At the end of Over My Head, Josh has propelled himself into the Otherworld where he believes his former girlfriend Elzie is in imminent danger. He leaves behind his closest friends: Marina, whose fledgling romance with Theo is increasingly complicated by her undeniable feelings for Josh, and Des, who is trying to figure out his own role amongst his Wildling friends. In this unpredictable world a side-step from our own, Josh discovers more about the awesome power he holds within as he deals with hostility from certain animal clans and elders.

Back in Santa Feliz his friends are facing a huge anti-Wildling rally that threatens all Wildling teens with segregation and incarceration. In the most tense and perilous of circumstances in both worlds, Josh and his friends must rely on each other's love, ingenuity and loyalty just to survive.