Accidentally infected by a genetic experiment, a teenager is turned into a dog overnight. He is unsure what has happened to him and is even uncertain who he is. He thinks he remembers someone calling him "Rusty," so he believes that's his name. Knowing he was once human, he decides to try and live as much like a normal person as he can. He goes back to school and enrolls in sixth grade. What follows is the story-sometimes humorous, sometimes scary, but always entertaining-of how he manages to succeed each day. Longing to find a way to return to his original human self, he eventually searches for the scientist whose experiment caused his transformation. How he finds him and attempts to escape with him from the laboratories where he has been held captive is a tale that will have the readers rooting for Rusty to succeed. Filled with humor, action and adventure, Rusty is the story of a dog who's not only a dog, but a whole lot more. Originally from Indiana, Thomas Dixon has always had a variety of interests, including reading, writing, poetry, travel, sports and music. He actually began his professional life as an opera singer before going back to school, earning an MBA degree, and working in business for a number of years. He never forgot his early creative pursuits, however, and eventually found that becoming an elementary school teacher provided the perfect avenue to share his enjoyment of these things with young people. This is his third book for children, the first being The $1.75 Guardian Angel, in which a fifth grader, Billy Warren, asks for supernatural help to defeat a bully, and the second, Lions of the Connor League, in which a baseball team and their coach find inspiration from an unlikely source.