Shifting

by Bethany Wiggins

Overview

After bouncing from foster home to foster home, Magdalene Mae is transferred to what should be her last foster home in the tiny town of Silver City, New Mexico. Now that she's eighteen and has only a year left in high school, she's determined to stay out of trouble and just be normal. Agreeing to go to the prom with Bridger O'Connell is a good first step. Fitting in has never been her strong suit, but it's not for the reasons most people would expect-it all has to do with the deep secret that she is a shape shifter. But even in her new home danger lurks, waiting in the shadows to pounce. They are the Skinwalkers of Navajo legend, who have traded their souls to become the animal whose skin they wear-and Maggie is their next target.

Full of romance, mysticism, and intrigue, this dark take on Navajo legend will haunt readers to the final page.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780802722812
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	09/27/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	368
Lexile:	720L (what's this?)
File size:	585 KB

About the Author

BETHANY WIGGINS started writing on a dare and dove headfirst into the world of writerly madness. She enjoys getting her hands dirty in her garden, baking anything with copious amounts of chocolate, and watching lightning storms from her front porch. She lives in the desert with her husband, three quirky kids, and two very fluffy cats. Shifting is her first novel. www.bethanywiggins.com

BETHANY WIGGINS started writing on a dare and dove headfirst into the world of writerly madness. She enjoys getting her hands dirty in her garden, baking anything with copious amounts of chocolate, and watching lightning storms from her front porch. She lives in the desert with her husband, three quirky kids, and two very fluffy cats. Shifting is her first novel. www.bethanywiggins.com

Editorial Reviews

Gr 8 Up—Maggie Mae Mortensen, 17, has been in 12 foster homes and has had nearly 20 arrests for indecent exposure. She is taken from Albuquerque to a new foster home in Silver City, NM, and starts in a new school for the last few months of her senior year. Immediately, she is drawn to handsome, rich, and popular Bridger O'Connell, but she can't control her problem: she's a shape-shifter. Every month at the full moon, she turns into an animal. That's why she's found naked in the streets after changing back to human form. Maggie Mae makes some friends, finds a job, forms a good relationship with her foster parent, and starts a budding romance with Bridger. Things are going okay—except for the fact that SkinWalkers, people who are able to become an animal by wearing their skin, are trying to kill her. A blend of paranormal romance and Navajo legend, Wiggins's debut novel is an engaging story that's difficult to put down. Recommend it to fans of Maggie Stiefvater's "Wolves of Mercy Falls" series (Scholastic).—Melissa Stock, Arapahoe Library District, Englewood, CO

School Library Journal

There's a Hitchcockian touch to the sinister and growing horde of animals that stalks Maggie . . . nice departure from the more played-out werewolf plots.” —BCCB

“An exciting paranormal mystery, including a forbidden romance.” —Library Media Connection

“The Infusion of Navajo traditions and beliefs addds appeal to the mystery . . . relatable to a wide range of readers.” —VOYA

From the Publisher

A slow and derivative plot mars this already lackluster debut.

After more than 12 years in the foster program and 20 incidents of indecent exposure in just the past two years, orphan Maggie Mae Mortensen is sent from Albuquerque to small-town Silver City, N.M., to finish out the last few months of her senior year. While she may have a caring guardian and a date to prom with Bridger O'Connell (the town's luckiest catch), the remote desert setting doesn't stop her from shifting into the closest animal around her at the full moon or being followed by a pack of wild animals. The tension wears thin as the fear of a mysterious man looking for Maggie Mae is overshadowed by her controlling relationship with Bridger. Despite being stood up at prom for no reason, told that he can't date local girls after leading her on and a plethora of other abusive situations, Maggie Mae forgives Bridger each time because of his physical attractiveness. What should be a driving force of the novel—the conflict between Shifters and Skinwalkers (evildoers who use stolen skins to change into animals)—is not explained until the very end. More information or an author's note about this Navajo legend and other Native American beliefs mentioned throughout would have been helpful.

Shift this to the bottom of the supernatural stack. (Paranormal romance. 12 & up)

Kirkus Reviews