From the Files of Madison Finn is a series of children's books by American writer Laura Dower. They are stories of a seventh grader's life that deal with boys, friends, enemies, and drama connected with technology. They were first published between 2001 and 2006.

Summary

This series is about a 12-year-old girl named Madison Finn, who lives in the fictional town of Far Hills in New York. Madison is the daughter of Francine and Jeff Finn, who are divorced. The series starts shortly after the events of the divorce. Madison is just like any other average 12-year-old girl. She worries about school, her best friends Aimee Gillespie and Fiona Waters, her crush on Hart Jones, and her constant rivalry with former friend, Ivy Daly. To get through it all she writes files on her computer, which acts as a sort of diary. There are currently 22 books in the series, including three super specials, which are slightly longer than the usual books and deal with certain special events in Madison's life, such as her dad's remarriage. Madison can be mean towards Ivy (and vice versa) in a few of the books, but in the end she is a nice, kind, caring, and lovable 12-year-old girl.

Characters

• Madison Finn The main character of the series. It is obvious that her favorite color is orange as she has an orange laptop that she usually carries with her and writes her files on. She like to write on her laptop of what happened that day. She has a pug named Phineas T. Finn. Madison lives with her mother who is divorced from Madison's father before the first book. Madison is known to be shy, not a fan of public speaking
  Public speaking
  Public speaking is the process of speaking to a group of people in a structured, deliberate manner intended to inform, influence, or entertain the listeners...
  
  , and shows great care for animals. Later in the series she volunteers at the Far Hills Animal Shelter
  Animal shelter
  An animal shelter is a facility that houses homeless, lost, or abandoned animals; primarily a large variety of dogs and cats.Parrots, for example, are the third most common pet owned by people...
  
   where her friend Dan Ginsburg and his mother volunteer. Madison writes files on her computer which act as her diary where she writes about what is currently going on in her life, her parent's divorce, her crush on Hart Jones and her enemy Ivy Daly. Madison is described as being a normal weight and has green eyes and brown hair.

• Ivy Daly Nicknamed Poison Ivy by Madison and her friends, Ivy is a girl with red hair and a snobbish attitude who is Madison, Aimee, and Fiona's enemy. She once was Madison's best friend, but the two soon turned into enemies when Ivy changed after coming back from summer camp
  Summer camp
  Summer camp is a supervised program for children or teenagers conducted during the summer months in some countries. Children and adolescents who attend summer camp are known as campers....
  
   and suddenly thought she was better than Madison. She is usually Madison's lab partner but she rarely does her own work, preferring to copy Madison's. She considered Hart her boyfriend in the earlier books but it is obvious that Hart has no feelings for her. Ivy has two best friends, Joan (whom Madison and her friends call "Phony Joanie") and Rose (called Rose Thorn). It is told in book #19, Keep It Real, that Ivy's mother is diagnosed with breast cancer
  Breast cancer
  Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...
  
  . The status of her mother after that is unknown.

• Aimee Anne Gillespie Aimee has been friends with Madison ever since they were born (mentioned in Boy Oh Boy!, book #2 in the series). She is thin and blonde, and loves to dance ballet, stating that she is planning on being a professional ballerina when she grows up. She practices daily, sometimes even going before school to practice. She is also very afraid of water: when they were little, she fell in the water and never came up until a minute after. Aimee was diagnosed with anorexia
  Anorexia nervosa
  Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by refusal to maintain a healthy body weight and an obsessive fear of gaining weight. Although commonly called "anorexia", that term on its own denotes any symptomatic loss of appetite and is not strictly accurate...
  
   in Picture Perfect after she fainted and is battling her constant thinking she is fat. Aimee is a committed vegetarian and is always on diets, constantly believing she is overweight. She is very thin with wavy blonde hair.

• Bigwheels Madison's keypal. It is revealed that her real name is Victoria, but preferring to go by Vicki. She and Madison often email one another, telling each other's problems to the other. Later, Madison finds out that Bigwheels' little brother Eddie has autism
  Autism
  Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their...
  
  .

• Fiona Waters Fiona moved to Far Hills from California. She has a twin brother
  Twin
  A twin is one of two offspring produced in the same pregnancy. Twins can either be monozygotic , meaning that they develop from one zygote that splits and forms two embryos, or dizygotic because they develop from two separate eggs that are fertilized by two separate sperm.In contrast, a fetus...
  
   named Chet. In the first book of the series, she and Madison become friends, but later Fiona tries to befriend Ivy. At the end she realizes that Ivy is just plain mean and goes back to Madison. She, Madison and Aimee become fast close friends and is one of Madison's BFFs. Fiona is shown to have an immense talent in soccer. In the series, Fiona and Madison's friend Walter "Egg" Diaz, both have crushes on one another and later are supposedly 'going out'. She has long dark hair, dark skin, and brown eyes.

• Walter "Egg" Diaz is Madison's male friend. He got his nickname when an egg was thrown at his face when he was younger. Egg is only called Walter by his mom (and Fiona early in the series). It becomes obvious that he and Fiona Waters have a crush on one another and are supposedly 'going out' later in the series. Egg is described as annoying, loud and loves to make fun of his friends and pull jokes. He also the groups' computer whiz along with Drew Maxwell. Egg, along with most of the guys in the group, plays hockey and his mother teaches Spanish at the group's school.

• Hart Jones Madison's crush throughout the series and also cousins with Drew Maxwell.(Who Knew?) At first it was thought that Hart liked Ivy, but later it becomes apparent that his crush was on Madison all along. Hart plays hockey along with most of guys in the group. He is known to be the cutest boy in the seventh grade at Far Hills Junior High (the school where Madison and her friends attend). It is revealed that in 2nd grade Madison slugged Hart. Like most boys, he enjoys sports, pulling pranks, and skateboarding. He is tall with dark hair and sometimes wears glasses.

• Chet Waters Fiona Waters' twin. He is considered "annoying" by Fiona and the other girls. Chet at first seems to have a crush on Ivy, but later falls for Madison's Indian friend, Madhur, towards the end of the series.

• Drew Maxwell Drew is Hart's cousin. He is the quiet one of the group, also the richest one out of them all. It is evident that he likes Madison, despite the fact that he gets a girlfriend in the middle of the series. He also asked Madison to the school's Heart 2 Heart dance but she immediately turned him down in hopes that Hart would ask her instead. Drew is known for his extremely extravagant parties and having virtually anything he wants. Despite that he is very down to earth and does not flaunt his riches.

• Dan Ginsburg Dan is one of Madison's other guy friends. In the seventh grade
  Seventh grade
  Seventh grade is a year of education in the United States and many other nations. The seventh grade is the seventh school year after kindergarten. Students are usually 12–13 years old. Traditionally, seventh grade was the next-to-last year of elementary school...
  
  , most kids called him "Pork-o" because he ate everyone's food when they were done. He works as a volunteer at the veterinary clinic with Madison. Around the middle of the series, he admitted to having a crush on Madison and being her secret admirer but she did not reciprocate his feelings. Later he ends up with Madison's friend Lindsay Frost instead.

• Lindsay Frost Lindsay becomes one of Madison's friends in the series. Madison had known her since first grade
  First grade
  First grade is a year of primary education in schools in the United States and English-speaking provinces of Canada. It is the first school year after kindergarten...
  
  , but never really knew her well. She was first featured in the 3rd book, Play It Again, as the girl who had an incredible voice, but was very shy. Her parents were going to be divorced, but it was never mentioned after the 20th book, All That Glitters.

• Madhur Singh Becomes Madison's newest friend at the end of the series. She and her family were from India. Madison had seen her in class but never knew her until the 22nd book, All Shook Up. She admitted to liking Hart Jones, but gave up on him when she found out accidentally that Madison and Hart were going out. In the end, she ended up with Chet Waters.

Book titles

1. Only the Lonely
2. Boy, Oh Boy!
3. Play It Again
4. Caught in the Web
5. Thanks for Nothing
6. Lost and Found
7. Save the Date
8. Picture-Perfect
9. Just Visiting
10. Give and Take
11. Heart to Heart
12. Lights Out!
13. Sink or Swim
14. Double Dare
15. Off the Wall
16. Three's a Crowd
17. On the Case
18. Give Me A Break
19. Keep It Real
20. All that Glitters
21. Forget Me Not
22. All Shook up

"Super Editions"

1. To Have and To Hold
2. Hit the Beach
3. Friends 'till the End

Bind Up Books

• 1-3 2C4W* Too Cool For Words
• 4-6 BF4E* Best Friends Forever

External links

• From the Files of Madison Finn on Hyperion Books