summaries for rebel robin (both the book and the podcast companion)

[decoder]

REBEL ROBIN (NOVEL)

❧ Rebel Robin explores Robin's life at Hawkin's High during her Sophmore year. There are some fan service moments — Robin runs into Nancy, Bob, Steve, Hopper on occasion — but the bulk of the novel focuses on Robin's social life, her relationship with her English teacher (Mr. Hauser), and her realization that she has romantic feelings for her eccentric classmate, Tammy Thompson.

❧ The following is the synopsis copy for the book itself:

"High school is a monster, and it’s eating everyone Robin knows. Discover the backstory of the new Stranger Things fan favorite character, Robin, played by Maya Hawke!

It's the beginning of sophomore year, and Robin's Odd Squad friends have decided: this time, they're going to fit in. They couple up, they won't stop talking about college and their future careers, and they're obsessed with trying to act "normal." Robin knows that game well--she's been pretending for years, hoping nobody would notice the sarcastic polyglot French horn player with a bad perm in the back of the room. But there's one aspect of her identity that she knows for sure doesn't fit in with her carefully controlled image--something she's only just now realizing: Robin likes girls.

How exactly is she supposed to be her true self in teeny-tiny Hawkins, Indiana? Robin is convinced the only way she can experience real life is by fleeing to Europe for the summer--aka Operation Croissant. But she has no money, no permission, and no one to share the adventure with--and it will take a heck of a lot more than that to escape Hawkins in one piece.

Sprinkled with references to your favorite Stranger Things characters, this prequel chronicles one girl's realization that the only person she really needs to be accepted by is herself."

❧ As I don't want to summarize a nearly 400-page book for this history section, I want to vouch for the authenticity of this tumblr post that surmises the contents of the book well. None of the Stranger Things supplemental materials are 100% canon compliant, and the ending goes a little off the rails — but it is technically Robin's canonical backstory.

REBEL ROBIN: SURVIVING HAWKINS (PODCAST)

❧ As this six episode podcast is a companion to the book, it expects you to know the plot of the book itself. It fills in some gaps and overlaps in certain ways, mostly meant to flesh out some conversations and...is honestly, mostly an ad for the book itself.

❧ The podcast summarizes Robin's relationship with her English teacher, Mr. Hauser, who gets the feeling that she needs someone in her corner. He's offered her to spend her lunch period in his classroom, and the first episode shows her taking him up on the offer. They discuss a variety of subjects, but mostly Robin's idea of social standing in school. They talk about "the monster," A.K.A. the society within Hawkins, specifically Hawkins high. They also discuss Barb, Robin's previous best friend, who has recently gone missing. Robin assumes Mr. Hauser has helped her to run away, as she saw him speak with her right before she disappeared. The episode also opens with Mr. Hauser receiving a phone call that seems to be threatening in nature.

❧ Episode two sees Robin return to Mr. Hauser's room where they discuss Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Robin asks why he doesn't teach it in his class, pushing back on his dismissal of bucking the system when he responds that he isn't allowed to deviate from the curriculum. Mr. Hauser notes her hypocrisy, as she wants to not stand out or ruffle feathers in the crowd within her own life. She also talks to him more about her dream of Operation Croissant, or her plan to go to France soon via working more at the movie theater as much as she can. Nancy Wheeler interrupts their discussion regarding how she can get to Europe successfully, which Mr. Hauser even offers to speak to her parents about the idea, and Robin eavesdrops on their conversation regarding Barb's disappearance.

❧ Episode three, Mr. Hauser receives another threatening phone call, which Robin also overhears. She admits to him that he overheard his conversation with Barb, but also the one he just had with Nancy. She continues to push the issue that he potentially helped Barb run away, as she once knew Barb to want to get out of Hawkins as much as she did, but he is adamant that this wasn't what they discussed one on one. Mr. Hauser is hurt that Robin has crossed this boundary with him, and he tries to make her see what she did and that it was wildly inappropriate. He leaves after another call, which he tells her is regarding materials he needs for a senior lesson coming into the school's library. Before she can leave as well, Robin intercepts another call which is the mysterious and threatening caller. The voice on the other end of the line recognizes Robin and advises her to stay away from Mr. Hauser, who they tell her is a dangerous man.

❧ Episode four, Mr. Hauser gives Robin a ride home in his car. They discuss music, Robin's Annie Lennox Halloween costume the previous year, and she reveals to him that she understands something about herself is different — that she has something rotten inside of her that is eating away at her more and more every day. She also admits to him that she intercepted a phone call meant for him and tells him about the message the person relayed to her. He is again upset at Robin for interfering and advises that they keep their conversations strictly academic from then on.

❧ Episode five, Robin is working at the movie theater when Mr. Hauser arrives, buying a ticket for Terms of Endearment. They have a small conversation, wherein Robin offers to watch the movie with him as he's by himself. He hastily tells her no. After the movie ends, Mr. Hauser comes out of the cinema with another man. Robin assumes they know each other, but both claim ignorance of one another — they simply left the theater at the same time and were discussing the movie they just saw. As she leaves work, Robin sees a school friend Dash spying on Mr. Hauser, prepared to follow him (supposedly) home. She confronts him, asking him if he's behind the nasty calls her English teacher has been receiving. Dash is obviously guilty, but both teens get caught up in chasing after Mr. Hauser (or, more aptly, Robin chasing after Dash, chasing after Mr. Hauser). They see Mr. Hauser leave through the backdoor of an ice cream parlor, get in a car in an alleyway and drive off.

❧ Episode six, Robin admits this knowledge to Mr. Hauser, who confesses to Robin in a roundabout way that he is gay, and that the man at the theater is the man he is dating. She advises that Dash is the culprit, and they successfully scare Dash off of threatening Mr. Hauser further. Mr Hauser also admits that his meeting with Barb involved her advising him that she saw he and his partner together, telling him that she wouldn't tell anyone but thought he should know for his privacy's sake. Robin also comes out to him, albeit not using specific language, and Mr. Hauser gives her a gift: a Russian volume of Anna Karenina.