When she was 14 years old, Jennifer Scales discovered that she was a weredragon - as is her father, as is her grandfather. She is able to change form from human girl to a beautiful dragon. Not only that, but she is the Ancient Furnace, an extremely special dragon fifty generations down the line. Furthermore, her very existence shocks both sides of her lineage, because her mother is one of the beaststalkers, sworn enemies of weredragons. Her parents' generation is made up of various wereanimals and beaststalkers who populated a small town in Minnesota, where life is otherwise normal. Many of the adults are riddled with venom and cruel intentions which they have passed on to their children, who grew up together. They go through the motions - school, work, and home - for the sake of all of the "normal" people who also live there. Jennifer celebrates her fifteenth birthday early in this book, cake and all. Shortly thereafter, her family tree gets shaken up. A horrid beast is attacking those near and dear to her father. It's up to the Scales to figure out who it is and how to stop it. When they discover the truth, they are struck close to home. Jennifer and her family must re-evaluate their senses of tradition and loyalty. Even though Jennifer would like nothing more than to go to the Halloween dance and be a normal tenth-grader, she never denies her destiny nor tries to change her true nature. In fact, she enjoys being a weredragon. It is her love for her parents and grandfather that sees her through the darkness and the battles.