All her life, Mia (12) has not only felt out of place in her town, she has felt out of place in her own family. Her twin sister, Marie, is the picture-perfect Primrose girl – permanently dressed in pink and puppy obsessed. Mia, on the other hand, loves skateboarding, quirky clothes, and her scruffy pet rat, Quentin.
After one too many problems at school, the Primrose headmistress transfers Mia to the mysterious Rotwood Academy to work on her behavior. Rotwood is nothing like Primrose. It’s dark, bat-infested, and it gives Mia the creeps. The place looks more like a castle than a school. And that’s not even the craziest part. At Rotwood, the students are... monsters!
This must be a mistake. Monsters and humans do NOT get along. Mia can’t let anyone at Rotwood know she’s a human or she could be in serious trouble. Her only option is to convince everyone that she’s a monster, too until she can get the heck out of that creepy school.

As time goes on, Mia begins to realize that her monster classmates aren’t so different from her former human classmates. She even finds some friends who take her under their wing. Paprika is a vampire and Oskar is a... well, Oskar’s head keeps fall- ing off. Mia has finally found a place where she belongs.

But things aren’t all sunshine and roses at her new monster school. Vice Principal Van Vlad has a particular disdain for humans and Mia has a feeling he’s plotting something dreadful.