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Frankie Stein lives with her brother, David, and her dad. Her dad is a genetic engineer at the big laboratory high on the hill. The lab has a lot of security guards and looks like something in one of those old horror movies. Her classmates tease her and say that her father is making monsters and they even call her Frankenstein. The names hurt and make her really angry sometimes. But, David insists that the genetic research will help man overcome the problems of the world.

Why does her Dad work in that lab and what does he do in there? He’s always too busy to talk and she starts to wonder if he really is working for the good of mankind. One day, David steals a test tube of some funny looking stuff from the lab.

He and Frankie decide to split it between them and do some secret experiments. Frankie ends up producing a charming, cheerful creature named Monnie, who loves to whistle and is an expert at changing herself into different shapes. Monnie instantly becomes her best friend. The usually lonely Frankie starts to feel important and valuable for almost the first time in her whole life. Frankie doesn’t want to give up Monnie but Monnie is just a weird creation from a test tube. Or is she?

Frankie discovers new things about self-worth, love and the power of the imagination through this unique friendship in The Monster Garden by Vivien Alcock.