Elsewhere by Will Shetterly

Ron is a teenager who comes to Bordertown, ostensibly to look for his older brother, Tony. Bordertown is a city on the edge of the human lands and Faerie, and was largely abandoned. But the number of teenage runaways that come to the town means that what was once abandoned is now occupied by squatters, clubs and borderline businesses.

Ron has sneaked onto the train to Bordertown, but is thrown off (actually, jumps) when the conductor realizes that he doesn't have a ticket. He's picked up by Mooner, a half-elf biker who takes Ron back to his home, Castle Pup, a large collection of elves, humans and "halfies", who get along and live with each other. This is not true in most places in Bordertown, where elves and humans look down on and actively persecute one another, and "halfies" are barely tolerated by both sides.

Castle Pup is run by Leda, an elf, but Mooner wants to change it, turning it from a place to crash and live into a club, which would allow them to make money, and also to take in and look after more kids, but mainly he wants to make money and stake out Castle Pup's place before what he sees as the inevitable tide of gentrification sets in.

Ron settles in to Castle Pup, rooming with a kid nicknamed "King of Beer". He also makes friends with a small dumb girl named Florida, who lives in the back garden. Something traumatic happened to Florida many years ago. She was found, bloody and almost catatonic, on the front steps of Castle Pup, and since then, she has remained outside. But after Ron reads to her from Treasure Island, she takes a liking to him and follows him inside to get some dinner, a first, for her.

Ron gets a job at a bookstore called Elsewhere. Mooner, who Ron is now friends with, doesn't like the owner, Goldie, but he won't say why. He asks Ron to steal a book from her store, and when Ron, unable to comply, gives Mooner his own copy of Yeats under the guise of having stolen it from Goldie, Mooner sets the book on fire, taking pleasure in destroying something that was once hers. Later, Mooner asks Ron to find out the security code for the protection spell that shields the store when it isn't open, claiming that Goldie stole something of his and he wants it back. Ron, miserable at the idea, promises only under the condition that if he does find out, Mooner will only steal it back, and nothing else. Mooner agrees.

Castle Pup votes on Mooner's idea, and it is defeated. Mooner is extremely upset, but Ron soothes him by letting Mooner know that he found out the password. That night, Mooner and Ron sneak into Elsewhere, where Mooner reveals it is his heart that Goldie stole, and he attempts to burn down the store in retaliation. Ron tries to stop him, and then realizes that Mooner has done the same with Castle Pup. Ron abandons the store to go back and help out at Castle Pup, and Mooner comes with him. Mooner, realizing what he has done, vanishes inside the Castle, and is later found burnt to death. Ron tries to save everyone he can, and, heartbroken at what he has precipitated, drinks mad river water and becomes a River-drinker junkie for well over a year, abandoning everyone and everything.

During his time as a River Water junkie, Ron encounters another inhabitant of Castle Pup, who fills him in on what happened. Many of the kids were taken to the hospital with smoke inhalation, Mooner is dead. Florida was taken in by Goldie, Leda returned to Faerie. Many of those left believe he set the fire, but Sparks knows he didn't. She offers Ron space, but Ron would rather return to his addiction and forget. The next time he encounters someone from Castle Pup, it is Leda, who has fallen in with a set of Young Blood Elves who ride around town on expensive human motorcycles but generally look down on humans. Ron curses and screams at her, and in retaliation, she turns him into a Dog-boy.

Hurting and afraid, Ron runs all over town, trying to hook up with some of his old friends from Castle Pup, but they chase him off as a monster. It's not until he returns to Elsewhere that he meets Florida again, who recognizes him even in his new guise, and speaks again to say his name. Then, Goldie takes him in, and it's up to Ron to put his life back together, as the spell that changed him also miraculously wiped out his addiction. But can he live his life any more successfully as Wolf-Boy than he did as just plain Ron?

"Elsewhere" is a book set in the shared world of Bordertown. There were other books set in the same universe, written by a group of writers, including Terri Windling. This is the first book in a series, the second being NeverNever. Sharing Ron's story was sometimes painful, as he makes stupid mistakes, and falls into patterns of behavior that end up costing him dearly, but watching him better himself, even as his life turns to what he thinks is shit, is interesting. The book teaches lessons about life that are never preachy, and speak much about reality while couched in the language of fantasy. Though this book is marketed for teens, anyone would enjoy the book, especially fans of fantasy.