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Monster High is the first book in the Monster High series by Lisi Harrison. It was released on September 1, 2010, followed by its thirteenth chapter on May 13, 2011. Its focus-character is Frankie Stein, who is born at the start of the book, and Melody Carver, whose family moves to Salem from Beverly Hills.

Plot[]

Melody and her family left behind glamorous Beverly Hills for the fresh air of Salem, Oregon. After shedding her old camel-hump nose and constant asthma attacks, Melody finally gets to be "the pretty one" at Merston High. Too bad she feels like a fraud...until she meets Jackson. But her new romance gets tricky when Melody hears totally bizarre rumors about...monster sightings?!

Fellow new student Frankie has lived in Salem all her life - but then again, she's only been alive for fifteen days. She sets out to conquer high school, boys, and shopping, in that order. But if she wants to fit in, she's going to have to hide a monster of a secret. Instead, she risks it all for a stolen kiss - a mistake that could cost her everything.

Summary[]

The book is told in the alternating perspectives of Frankie Stein, a fifteen-day-old girl made in her parent’s lab, and Melody Carver, a fifteen-year-old girl who feels like a misfit amongst her picture-perfect family.

The Carver family is moving from Beverly Hills, California to Salem, Oregon, to help Melody with her asthma, but the move greatly upsets Melody's older sister Candace. Despite Candace’s protestations, Melody is secretly looking forward to the change. The Carvers arrive at their new house, and Melody and Candace eagerly explore their new residence. Candace spots their neighbor outside from her room’s window but, upon closer inspection, passes him off to Melody, considering him too geeky. Melody is annoyed at Candace's judgment but agrees to explore the neighborhood with her. They end up at a park with a carousel where they spot their neighbor again. After some conversation, Melody leaves with the boy’s name, Jackson, and his phone number.

At the Stein’s residence, Frankie’s parents, Viktor and Viveka, have a talk with Frankie. With the summer coming to an end, they will soon have to return to their teaching jobs, meaning Frankie will go to a normie (human) school. They explain that they are part of a community known as Regular Attribute Dodgers (RAD), consisting of what normies call monsters. Though originally living in peace with humans, the 20th century saw an increase in horror movies starring and portraying them as violent, causing humans to mistrust them. The RAD’s wanted to flee to Salem, Massachusetts, to escape the mobs and receive help from the witches, but a mix-up with locations, and centuries, saw the RAD’s arrive in Salem, Oregon. They set down roots and built the Radcliffe Way cul-de-sac to protect themselves. To blend in, they give Frankie some unflattering clothes to hide her bolts and seams and stage makeup to cover her green skin, which Frankie is not pleased with. On the first day of school, she wears her own clothes, which her parents disapprove of, but drive her to her school, Mount Hood High nonetheless. When they arrive, Frankie heads inside, dismissing the unusually empty campus, when a group of cheerleaders accidentally slams the front door in her face. The cheerleaders are initially apologetic before becoming terrified upon seeing Frankie’s green skin, and they call the police. Frankie’s parents get her out in time before the police arrive, reveal that her real school is called Merston High, and they had done this to teach her a lesson. Confidence shaken, Frankie agrees to wear the disguise to school.

At Merston High, Melody is disappointed that the school and her classmates are exactly like Beverly Hills, and at her weekend, she saw her calls and texts to Jackson go unanswered. While standing in the lunch line, she overhears a conversation of a monster sighting between a couple behind her. The couple leaves when the boy pays her too much attention. Melody attempts further conversation with Frankie, who stood behind the couple, but when they shake hands and Melody receives a shock, Frankie quickly leaves. Jackson soon finds her, and Melody confronts him about his silence over the weekend, though she is quickly embarrassed when she realizes she typed in the wrong number. While heading to a lunch table, a girl named Cleo de Nile spills her lunch when trying to squeeze past the two, and demands Melody’s lunch as compensation. When she refuses, Cleo kisses Jackson as revenge. Now acting differently, Jackson goes to sit with Cleo, leaving a dejected Melody alone. She is approached by Bekka Madden, with her assistant and friend, Haylee. Bekka, also on the receiving end of Cleo’s kissing revenge on her boyfriend, Brett, offers Melody friendship and support, in exchange for signing a contract stipulating that she prevent girls from trying to steal away Brett. Melody agrees and Bekka shows her support by starting a food fight with Cleo.

Frankie goes to her next class, trying to find a seat allowing her to be inconspicuous. While she is choosing, she's approached by a boy named D.J., who accidentally gets shocked, and dubs her "firecracker". Two girls named Blue and Lala also sit next to Frankie, the former of whom borrows some of her makeup. Brett also arrives and Frankie is immediately smitten with him. Throughout class, Frankie builds up a charge that she releases in the bathroom immediately after class. Blue and Lala follow her, giving back her forgotten makeup bag and inviting her to the spa.

At the end of the week, Melody has gotten over her crush on Jackson, as he has been kissing Cleo all week. When leaving the school, she sees Cleo kissing another guy, her boyfriend Deuce, recently returned from Greece. As she tries to leave the school, Cleo confronts Melody about being done with Jackson, just as he is coming down the hall with flowers. In retaliation, Melody kisses Deuce, which hurts Cleo, though she puts on a front. Though praised by Bekka and Haylee, they find Jackson’s flowers smashed outside and find that the flowers were for Melody. That weekend, while Candace is on a date, Melody uses her room to spy on Jackson’s house. She is interrupted by Jackson himself while on a phone call to Bekka and Haylee. Jackson confesses that he suffers from blackouts and does not remember kissing Cleo. Melody believes and forgives him, and he expresses his genuine interest in Melody, despite being shown her old photos with her unfortunate nose.

Frankie is picked up for her first spa visit by Lala, accompanied by Blue, Cleo, and Clawdeen, and passively observes their banter. At the spa, they each go for different treatments, with Frankie opting for the tanning bed. Her electricity short-circuits the bed, however, and also causes a power outage at the spa. Frankie makes her escape, walks back home in the rain, and receives treatment for her burned bolts and seams. Later that night, she is woken up by her parents for a secret meeting of the RAD’s, called RAD Intel Party (RIP), located in a hidden lair underneath the carousel. While the parents talk, the RAD’s children get to interact. Frankie is excited at the prospect of meeting others like her. At the RIP meeting, Frankie is introduced to Maddy Gorgon, Deuce’s mother, and meets with Lala, Blue, Cleo and Clawdeen. Sydney Jekyll, Jackson’s mother, leads the meeting for the kids, reporting that the September Semi at Merston High, in honor of the Mount Hood High monster sighting, will have a monster theme. The RAD’s are offended and plan to boycott the dance, but Frankie is inspired, believing the theme to be flattering. Despite this, Billy is the only one who shows support for Frankie. At school, during Ms. Jekyll’s biology class, the lesson is interrupted by a monster drill. Frankie shows her rebellion by refusing to participate. After the class, Ms. Jekyll privately urges Frankie to blend in, afraid that trying to change the status quo may start another witch hunt and endanger the RAD’s. Frankie agrees, though secretly declares she will do so in her own way.

Brett enlists the help of Jackson, Melody, Haylee, Bekka, and Heath to help film scenes for his homemade monster movie. The boys leave to set up some equipment, and Bekka informs the girls that they plan on scaring them for a genuine reaction scene. Melody is touched that Bekka puts her friends before her boyfriend, and, true to her word, the boys try and scare the girls, which they fake scream for. Noticing Jackson’s absence, Melody finds him, where he reveals he did not want to scare Melody, and the two share their first kiss underneath a blanket. Afterward, Jackson, behaving differently, does not recognize who she is, and leaves a heartbroken Melody, after declaring his interest in a different girl called firecracker. Later on in the week, Melody, Bekka, and Haylee are at a costume store shopping for a bridal dress for Bekka’s bride of Frankenstein costume to go with Brett’s own costume. Spotting Deuce, Bekka ropes him into attending the dance with Melody, especially after finding out Cleo is boycotting along with her friends, and Melody reluctantly agrees. She returns home and is visited by Jackson, who she had been avoiding. Fed up with his behavior, she refuses to talk with or allow him to explain himself. With the A/C in their house being broken, Jackson quickly becomes sweaty. His behavior changes once again. He calls himself D.J. Melody films the change, and Jackson’s new behavior, intending to call the police. Candace arrives with a fan to dance with D.J., and when the room cools down, D.J. becomes Jackson. Melody shows a confused Jackson what he does during his “blackouts,” and he immediately goes back home. Following him, Melody eavesdrops on the conversation with his mom and finds out that Jackson is the grandson of Dr. Jekyll, and his subsequent experiments to turn himself into a party guy corrupted his DNA, which passed down his family line. Jackson and D.J. are two people in the same body with different personalities, and D.J. comes out whenever Jackson gets sweaty. Now knowing the truth, Melody leaves. On one night, the Steins are entertaining important guests during dinner, whom Viktor hopes can fund his research. Frankie makes her displeasure towards the guests evident. Lala and Blue visit with a petition against the September Semi theme, but Frankie intends to attend, wanting to impress Brett. Viktor shuts the girls out and grounds Frankie from going to the Semi.

Despite this, Frankie intends to sneak out and go anyway. On the day of the dance, she reveals to Cleo that Melody and Deuce are going to the dance together, and the girls could go to the dance as themselves and bust them. The girls agree and head to the dance together. Meanwhile, Melody and Deuce are at the dance together, though neither is having a good time. Melody cannot return home since she rode with Bekka. Deuce leaves the dance to call Cleo, and Jackson finds Melody armed with a mini fan to prevent himself from transforming. The RAD girls enter the dance, and their “costumes” are a hit. Bekka encounters Frankie and insults her costume, despite Frankie’s costume being genuine, and when Brett later finds Frankie, he mistakes her for Bekka, and the two share a kiss, during which Frankie’s head comes off. Brett goes into shock while the police are called, and the RAD’s flee once more, with Frankie being carried off by Billy. During the commotion, Jackson’s fan breaks, and he urges Melody to leave with him, while Bekka and Haylee, attending to Brett, remind her of the obligation to find the girl who kissed him. Before she comes to a decision, Jackson turns into D.J. and leaves, while Melody catches a ride from Candace and some advice on what to do next.

Frankie is stitched back together while overhearing the panicked conversations of the RAD’s, now on the receiving end of another witch hunt. After heading to bed themselves, Frankie is visited by D.J. Initially delighted, she becomes downtrodden when he transforms into Jackson and leaves. Melody decides to put her loyalty on Jackson instead of fighting Bekka’s fight, but she is confronted by her friends when she leaves her house to find him. Having found her phone left in her dad’s car and the video of Jackson’s transformation, Bekka accuses Melody of being a monster sympathizer, terminates their friendship contract, and blackmails her into signing a new contract to find the girl who kissed Brett, or else the video gets leaked. After they leave, Jackson arrives, and the two apologize to each other for their decisions. Jackson reveals that he knows the girl who kissed Brett since D.J. has a crush on her, and Melody forces Jackson’s transformation into D.J., who leads her to Frankie. After meeting Frankie, Melody does not feel it is right to turn her in, identifying with the RAD’s struggles of fitting in, and agrees to help find a different way to protect her, and also keep Jackson’s secret from getting out.

Lost Chapter (Whose Unlucky Number Shall Go Unmentioned)

The thirteenth chapter of this novel was absent from the novel's original release but was later released eight months later. All the novels in the Monster High series follow a similar format where this chapter is missing.

For Chapter 13: Slow and Tell, see Monster High (book) (disambiguation).


Characters[]

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  1. Frankie Stein
  2. Viktor Stein
  3. Viveka Stein
  4. Melody Carver
  5. Candace Carver
  6. Beau Carver
  7. Glory Carver
  8. Glitterati
  9. Jackson Jekyll
  10. Brett Redding
  11. Bekka Madden
  12. Haylee
  13. Clawdeen Wolf
  14. Cleo de Nile
  15. D.J. Hyde
  16. Draculaura
  17. Lagoona Blue
  18. Deuce Gorgon
  19. Maddy Gorgon
  20. Clawd Wolf
  21. Sydney Jekyll
  22. Billy Phaidin
  23. Mr. Weeks
  24. Heath Burns
  25. Cora Mathis
  26. Charles Mathis
  27. Mr. Madden
  28. Garrett
  29. Dracula
  30. Clawrk Wolf
  31. Harriet Wolf
Charlisticon2

Notes[]

Continuity[]

  • Draculaura can drive in Monster High, meaning she has either already had her Sweet 1600 or doesn't interpret her age as actually being fifteen still.

Errors[]

  • In chapter 5, there are said to be "no fewer than ten boys" playing outside the Wolf residence, all heavily implied to be siblings. In Where There's a Wolf, There's a Way, the Wolf family is said to only contain five sons.
  • In chapter 17, Mrs. Mathis can see the door from the dining room at first as she points out the Steins are getting mail. But once Mr. Stein closes the door, the described scene shows that the door is out of view from the dining room.
  • In chapter 20, the text reads: "Bekka handed her an inhaler. Melody took a big puff. "Ahhhhhhh!" She delighted in the steady exhale. "Where did you get that?" "I took it from your purse before we left the car." She handed it to Melody." The only way the last sentence works with the first is if the "it" is Melody's purse. However, Melody confirmed earlier that there's money for a ride home in her purse, while later, she states that she can't leave because she has no money.

Other[]

  • Draculaura's problem keeping herself warm is due to the fact she has no blood circulation anymore. This Monster High vampiric trait is exclusive to the Monster High books.
  • In every continuity that features Jackson's and Holt/D.J.'s discovery of their other half, a degree of suspension of disbelief is required. But the Monster High book continuity really makes it hard to not disbelieve. The case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is well-known in the Monster High book continuity, and while Jackson may only go by the last name "Jekyll", D.J. eagerly calls himself "Hyde". They also switch between each other openly at school, making it hard to believe no one else figures out the boys' deal earlier.
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