In 1983 Hawkins, twelve-year-old Stella, starved of affection at home, finds solace in her friend Will and their D&D party. When Will vanishes after encountering a monster one night, Stella follows supernatural clues with her intuition and a black folding knife, uncovering a hidden parallel world, "Hawkins 2.0." Confronting bullies, a fractured family, and a deadly creature, she awakens from a shy girl into a survivor, determined to reclaim her only "light" between two worlds.
