I got this hardcover from Better World Books. It's from a children's fantasy series by Ursula Vernon (aka T. Kingfisher), whose work I've enjoyed (see Digger, a comic about a feisty wombat and her adventures in a strange underground world, and Jackalope Wives, stories set in a kind of mystical American-West surrogate).

I first encountered this series via Lair of the Bat Monster, the 4th book, and enjoyed it so much I wanted more. The series is aimed at younger readers, and is set in a world of anthropomorphic animals who live like humans in a '50s suburb, more or less - and who occasionally refer to the "other" animals, the ones that don't talk and don't wear clothes (and who thus can become food, or - sometimes - can try to devour the main characters {wry grin}). Danny, our hero, is a young dragon; his best friend Wendell is an iquana. Danny is imaginative to a sometimes-reckless degree, while Wendell is the voice of reason (and/or cowardice) - a good balance, except that Danny usually drags Wendell into his schemes.

This one features a food-service supply gone wrong. It opens with another of Danny's dreams (and a chapter that opens "Premonition (whatever that is)"); Danny found it creepy, but when he described it to Wendell, Wendell scoffed - and promptly suggested a bunch of more interesting topics for nightmares, such as the ravenous lava earwigs the size of cows...

Come lunch time, the pals join the lunch line, and while Wendell has brought his lunch as usual, Danny opts for the hot dogs - which are an unusual shade of vivid red. When Danny points this out, it's Wendell who pokes an exploratory finger - and promptly gets bitten! (Wendell applies a bandage from the ones his mother sends along with him - they have the periodic table of elements on them, so he "slapped the atomic weight of Chromium on his wound". I would *love* bandages like that!)

Next day, Wendell is sprouting hair, something an iquana should not do, and the pals realize something's afoot. A trip to the library ("All knowledge is contained in the card catalog" says Wendell) turns up some ideas about shapeshifters, though not specifically weiners; still, it gives them something to go on. Having raided the school pantry, they find packages of weiners with fine print on them: "In case of missing product, damage, or lycanthropy, call..." Aha! But the person on the phone can only provide a little more help, mainly that they have to find the Alpha Wurst within three days (silver skewers and mustard are recommended).

Things get more delightfully wacky - and unnerving - as more students succumb to the were-wiener attacks. Our heroes decide to try and contact a sentient potato salad that they sent down a storm drain in a previous book (I have to go find that one now), and which they hope will feel it owes them a favor - and, after all, potato salad and hot dogs are natural enemies. Um, right?

Will the guys manage to take down the Alpha? Will its evil minions, including Big Eddy the school bully, thwart their plans? Stay tuned!

[There's a TV Tropes page on Vernon and her work.]

Guidelines for safely visiting and stocking Little Free Libraries during the COVID-19 pandemic, from the LFL site here.

I left this book in this new-to-me Little Free Library on this lovely autumn day; hope someone enjoys it!

[See other recent releases in MA here.]

*** Released for the 2020 Spooktacular October challenge. ***