SOLVED. YA Fantasy about a student who travels to another realm where the inhabitants live half their lives as animals. [s]

[Mark]

I read this book in the early 2000's and it has plagued my memory ever since. The main character is an early college student who is teleported to a fantasy land, where the inhabitants can switch between their animal form and human form. Upon arriving, he kills and eats a rabbit for survival, and then finds out he is wanted for murdering the town grandma. There are also dragon-humans, and he returns to earth with working knowledge of every human spoken language

[Becca]

The Beasts of Barakhai by Mickey Zucker Reichert

[Mark]

Splendid, thanks!