Frankie Stein

Mr. and Mrs. Stein are shocked when their baby boy arrives and is nothing like them

Frankie N. Stein is a 12-year-old monster fanatic, addicted, like most kids his age, to gothic video games. He is a big fan of Universal Studios horror movies such as Frankenstein, Dracula and The Werewolf. He is the middle child in a typical middle class family. His older sister, Alexa (16) is a whiny teenage brat; the younger sister, Kimberly (4) is an adorable little sweetheart. Father Albert is the prototypical middle class professional, slightly absentminded, but very loving to his children. Mom, Jennifer, is the disciplinarian of the household, but always supports her husband and family. Their next-door neighbors, Juana and Felipe Garcia are the busy body Fred and Ethel of the neighborhood. Albert's work (setting up computer systems for large corporations which he brings in huge crates from America) takes him to Frieburg, Germany, which is located right on the western edge of the fabled Black Forest, home of Sauebraten, cuckoo clocks and lots of dark, mystical spirits hiding in the medieval castles nestled deep in the woods. The Stein family are guests in a 17th century castle, converted into a hotel, and this is where young Frankie magically stumbles upon a secret passageway leading him to the ruined lab of one Victor Von Frankstein, who rumor has it, once lived here. A perfectly preserved monster falls out of the closet, and quite by accident, is brought back to life by Frankie. "One of the Funniest books I've ever read." Tony Lambrou - Editor Outlook magazine "My kid makes me read it to him every night." Mario Treto - Screenwriter

Frankie begins his first day at Miss Wart's Academy for Ghouls and Goblins excited and eager to learn, but when the other students tease him for being different, he demonstrates what he already knows about being scary.

"Frankie Stein thinks the whole town of Transylvania, Pennsylvania is full of monsters ... At least that's what his dad has always said. But when two normal boys from town show up at Castle Stein, Frankie starts to wonder if father really knows best! Frankie decides there's only on way to find out the truth about monsters and boys and heads to town ... on the night of October 31st!"--Page 2 of cover.

There's a new ghoul in school named Isi Dawndancer and Frankie has volunteered to show her all around Monster High--after all, she knows what it's like to be the new ghoul! Isi is scary-sweet so Frankie is thrilled to help her out.... even though Frankie's new pet seems to prefer the new ghoul to her. But when it starts to seem like maybe Frankie's BFFs prefer the new ghoul too, Frankie starts to feel really lonely and confused. What's a ghoul to do? © 2015 Mattel. All Rights Reserved.

This collection of essays explores a wealth of topics in children’s and young adult literature and culture. Contributions about picture-books include analyses of variants of the folktale “The Little Red Hen” and bullying. Race and gender are explored in essays about picture-books featuring children as consumable objects, about books focused on African American female athletes, and about young adult dystopian fiction. Gender itself is further explored in articles about Monster High, Joyce Carol Oates’s Beasts, and The Hunger Games and Divergent. Essays about fantasy literature include an exploration of environmentalism in Rick Riordan’s The Heroes of Olympus, a discussion of Severus Snape as a Judas figure, an explication of Chapter 5 of The Hobbit, and an analysis of ghosts and nationalism in Eva Ibbotson’s The Haunting of Granite Falls. An essay about Horrible Histories explores television, genre, and the way history is coded. Other contributions explore how teaching literature to reluctant readers can be effective through multimodal texts and how Harry Potter has played a role in the popularity of young adult literature for adult readers.

Dark novels, shows, and films targeted toward children and young adults are proliferating wildly. It is even more crucial now to understand the methods by which such texts have traditionally operated and how those methods have been challenged, abandoned, and appropriated. Reading in the Dark fills a gap in criticism devoted to children's popular culture by concentrating on horror, an often-neglected genre. These scholars explore the intersection between horror, popular culture, and children's cultural productions, including picture books, fairy tales, young adult literature, television, and monster movies. Reading in the Dark looks at horror texts for children with deserved respect, weighing the multitude of benefits they can provide for young readers and viewers. Refusing to write off the horror genre as campy, trite, or deforming, these essays instead recognize many of the texts and films categorized as "scary" as among those most widely consumed by children and young adults. In addition, scholars consider how adult horror has been domesticated by children's literature and culture, with authors and screenwriters turning that which was once horrifying into safe, funny, and delightful books and films. Scholars likewise examine the impetus behind such re-envisioning of the adult horror novel or film as something appropriate for the young. The collection investigates both the constructive and the troublesome aspects of scary books, movies, and television shows targeted toward children and young adults. It considers the complex mechanisms by which these texts communicate overt messages and hidden agendas, and it treats as well the readers' experiences of such mechanisms.

One summer afternoon three boys play a prank on the ice-cream man. This one decision sets into motion a chain of events that will forge a life-long bond, testing each boy as never before. Three boys united by fear and their need for friendship. Three boys united against the ice-cream man.