Before Hawkins and the Upside Down, Max Mayfiels was just a California girl.

Max isn't soft or frilly like her mom wants her to be. She never seems to say the right thing. And she’d rather spend her days at the arcade than try to fit in. At least back in California, she had friends, and her dad was only a bus ride away. But then Max's mom remarried, and Max moved with her new family to middle- of-nowhere Hawkins, Indiana. Her stepdad calls her Maxine; her stepbrother, Billy, is totally out of control; and Max's new friends would rather put up walls than get real with her.

Soon Max discovers just how dangerous—and strange—things in Hawkins really are. She finds herself up against vicious Demodogs, a murderous Mind Flayer, and a real live magic-wielding Mage. Max and the gang will do anything to save Hawkins from the darkest parts of the Upside Down . . . as long as violent, terrifying Billy doesn’t bring them crashing down first.