The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Oshetsky, Claire. Chouette. HarperCollins, 2021.

Claire Oshetsky's novel Chouette is written from the first person point of view of the protagonist Tiny and in the present tense. A work of magical realism, the narrative blurs the boundaries between the fantastical and the real.

Tiny lives with her husband in Sacramento, California. Two weeks after Tiny has a dream about having sex with her owl-lover, she discovers that she is pregnant. When she tells her husband that she is going to have an owl-baby, he dismisses her declaration as just another of Tiny's fantasies.

Meanwhile, Tiny tries to decide whether or not she wants to keep the owl-baby. As a professional cellist, Tiny worries that the owl-baby's birth will intrude upon her career and personal life. She can already feel the owl-baby trying to steal her thoughts and rob her of her identity.

Feeling overwhelmed and confused, Tiny takes a trip to Berlin by herself. While there, she realizes that she wants to become a mother. She cannot abort the baby, she decides, simply because she is upset with the owl-lover.

Tiny has known the owl-lover since she was a child. Because her father was emotionally, verbally, and physically abusive to Tiny, Tiny's mother stole her away in the night. After her mother turned into a tree, the Bird of the Wood found and rescued Tiny. Tiny grew up in the wood, or the gloaming, and became friends with an owl-girl. When she and the owl-girl started falling in love, however, Tiny withdrew, hearing her father's scolding voice in her head. Her husband ultimately found her wandering in the city and invited her to be his lover and wife.

Because Tiny regards her husband as steadfast and secure, when the owl-lover learned she was pregnant and suggested they run away together, Tiny refused the offer. The owl-lover shirked away, hurt and dejected.

Tiny goes into labor while her husband is away on a business trip. After she gives birth to the owl-baby, who she names Chouette, Tiny has a dream about meeting with the Bird of the Wood. The Bird of the Wood helps her accept her new fate as Chouette's mother.

Over the following weeks and months, Tiny slowly adjusts to motherhood. Chouette, however, is no ordinary baby. Although her father is disgusted and repelled by her, Tiny has grown to love her daughter. Indeed, entertaining Chouette's wild instincts has encouraged Tiny to reclaim her own wildness.

Tiny's husband returns home from a family gathering one day, convinced that he and Tiny can fix Chouette. Although Tiny has no interest in changing their daughter, she agrees to see various specialists, doctors, and therapists in order to appease her husband. Then one day, her husband insists they take Chouette to see Doctor Great in Malibu. When Tiny learns that Doctor Great is installing artificial intelligence into the brains of owl-babies, she panics.

After an accident in the woods with Chouette one night, Tiny is forced to convalesce. While she is medicated, her husband secretly takes Chouette to Doctor Great and has the AI device installed. Once Tiny learns the truth, she does everything in her power to destroy the device and return her daughter to herself. Finally, she and Chouette escape. Tiny leads her daughter into the woods and lets her go. Although she knows it is her duty to liberate her daughter, Tiny is overcome by grief. She must now take control of her own life, yet is unsure how to move forward.