Rating: 
Summary: Not a feel good book but you JUST have to read it...
Review: This is yet another thrift shop book that cost less than a dollar but unlike my previous purchase of Philip Roth's "The Human Stain," White Orleander is a book of high literary merit that you want to read over and over again because it is so addictive, like the scent of the White Orleander, and it's vicious but beauteous scent.White Orleander is about Mothers and daughters and the complex relationships we sometimes have with those we love but don't always like. It's a book about life, death, survival and the redemption of the soul. Astrid is the teenage daughter of Ingrid now in prison after murdering an ex-lover and Astrid finds herself at the Mercy of the Los Angeles foster care system that is both brutal and tender. From her first teenage love affair with one of her foster mother's boyfriend's to her life in Berlin as a cynical but gifted young Artist we have driven through a life filled with tears, laughter, and the uncompromising brutality of the human experience. Astrid is above all a survivor and she takes from her foster life experience a new way of thinking, of understanding those around her, the good, the bad and the downright ugly. For me the best part of the book was Astrid's artistry of life, along with her acute understanding of mother's selfish whims and desire to be "beautiful and wanted" by the world for her talents as a poet, even though she is languishing in jail. But Astrid is everything her mother is not, and her ability to carry her life with her in "museums," customised suitcases representing all those people that have influenced her life is wonderful, and you can feel the presence of Star, the God loving, drug taking foster mother, who shoots Astrid for seducing her man, the cowardly and weak Ray and other characters such as the racist Marvel and Olivia a woman for who men are no mystery, the suicidal Claire most beloved to Astrid, the greedy voracious Amelia Ramos, Yvonne a teenage mother with more dreams than sense, the streetwise Rena and Paul, Astrid's young lover in Berlin, like her a former foster child and writer. And threading its way through the novel always is the power of Ingrid, struggling to keep control of her daughter who is surviving the world without her. This is not an easy book to read, there is brutality, tenderness, betrayal, and deception in every page but you are compelled to read on and though the ending is far from satisfying it is what you expect. Read White Orleander, and pray that no one ever makes a suitcase for you that represents your life because if they do you might not like what you see...
Rating: 
Summary: not impressed
Review: The movie was decent, but I hated the book. Catastrophe after catastrophe piled up, it was like standing on a bridge during rush hour watching a huge traffic accident. Maybe I was spoiled by seeing the movie first, but the book seemed dull (even with all the problems and violence) in comparison. Try as I might, I just could not see what was supposed to be so uplifting about the book. In real life, Astrid would probably be in much worse shape - even if she had her art - after going through so much trauma. Even "parental kids" need a bit of stability somewhere.
Rating:
Summary: I love language arts teachers
Review: I read the book White Oleander by Janet Fitch. White Oleander was one of the paramount books I have ever read. It had a genuineness to it that was none like any other book I have experienced. Janet Fitch is a most dazzling author the way she manipulates her words to make you feel and smell and see all the things that Astrid endures through her adolescence. Fitch uses some of the supreme metaphors you will ever hear. When I read White oleander and read Fitch's writing I can graphically visualize everything with a superfluity of color. During Astrid's' (protagonist) steamy affair with her foster father Ray Fitch makes it seam voyeuristic in its gritty sensuality.And when you put it down you take some of the passion and self confidence with you.
The book is narrated by a youth, Astrid, of Los Angeles, California. Her mother , Ingrid, is a narcotic poet who amuses herself with cruelty to others. However Ingrid is no soccer mom she doesn't care about Astrid the way a mother should she treats her a dog that fallows her every where. She is arrested for murder and sent to jail. Astrid is sent to an array of dissimilar foster parents including Starr an ex alcoholic who has now accepted Jesus Christ as her savior. Marvel a self indulgeded forty year old has been. And Clair a hypochondriac actress obsessed with fen shoji and many more. Ingrid however is thrilled for Astrid to be with these lunatics who really shouldn't have been given children in the first place to cultivate her artistic ability.
Rating:
Summary: sadness, cruelty and fun in one book
Review: "White Oleander" tells the story of a 36-year old mother, Ingrid, and her teenage daughter Astrid. Ingrid is a woman, who loves the beauty. She is a really beautiful but selfish poet and artist, and she just wants to be with beautiful people, like her daughter. After she fell in love with a plain a not pretty man, and he broke up, Ingrid went crazy and killed him, by poison him. She went to jail and Astrid's journey began; she goes through a series of Foster homes. Astrid, who always wanted to be like her mother, starts to think for herself and realized that her mother is an intriguing and selfish person. Because of the influence of Ingrid on Astrid, at every Foster family something happened and Astrid had to move on. But she also learns the important things of life. She learns positives, like to be loved, and also negatives, such as to get hurt, and in the end, she learns to take care for herself and to let go from her mother. "White Oleander" is a story about cruel, love, fun and also sadness. This is one of the books I couldn't stop reading until I was done, because of its close attention. It is a moving story, and it's easy to put yourself in Astrid's situation. I just can recommend this book as one of the best I've ever read.
Rating:
Summary: OMG What a Great Book!!,
Review: This is one of the best memoir style-abuse related books I think I have read. You feel what the peron feels, see what the person sees. I would rate this book as up there with "Nightmares Echo" and "Running With Scissors". But I would also include "A Child Called It", "Lost Boy" and "Lucky: A Memoir".
What a powerful story this is....draws you in and keeps you there turning the pages through to the end. You will not believe the courage and determination...Amazing! If we could give higher than 5 stars...I certainly would!
Rating:
Summary: A MUST READ!!!
Review: White Oleander is, by far, the BEST book I've ever read. I love Janet Fitch's style, which resembles poetry a lot. The characters are all in-depth and believable. Although the story itself is quite negative--- perhaps too negative, the plot was outstanding and original. Read the book, don't see the movie. The magic in the book cannot be transformed into any movie, but only through Janet Fitch's words you can feel the magic. DON'T MISS IT!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Terrific! please read!
Review: Really, this is a genuine great pageturner. Why did I put it at three stars? I sadly must agree with the previous critic who gave it only one star on the basis that the book leans too much toward sadness. For a book which is supposed to be based on reality without any romance, it seems to romanticize only the sad parts of life, in very unreal order of events. At first I disagreed with this critic thinking "this is simply a story about the sadder parts of life" Later in the book I found it to be so unrealistic. However, the poetry, the description and the content are like nothing I've ever read. It is so unique and I absolutely love it. I have already taken excerpts and written them down in journals so as never to lose them. Many of them I've memorized. I am awaiting another book by Janet Fitch. Please read this book!
Rating:
Summary: A knock-out
Review: Reminiscent of Jackson McCrae's BARK OF THE DOGWOOD, this stellar novel is an absolute knock-out. What is so amazing about the characters that Fitch creates is that she manages to give us people who, at first glance, seem "over the top" only to show us that they're in fact real people with a lot more underneath. This book is so well crated and plotted that I was absolutely blown away. Please--do yourself a favor and read it!
Rating:
Summary: Very Disappointing
Review: Like many readers, I was told time and time again I could not pass up this book, it was simply one of those books that one was a changed person after reading. After reading the book, I must say I was quite disappointed. I have no problem with, in fact I truly enjoy, books that face reality head on, with giving an overly utopian view of life. However, I have a problem with books like this that give, for lack of a better a word, an unrealitic view of reality, one that is puts such emphasis on the negative aspects of life that all hope for joy and truth are lost. As bad as life can get, there is still joy, still happiness, still love. The only person that represents these characteristics is killed off 250 pages into the book.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent read!
Review: I've been meaning to get around to this book now for a while. Then I saw it was an Oprah pick and put it off a little longer as I'm not one for the taste of the masses. But boy, was I wrong! "White Oleander" isn't your average book and I wish now I had jumped on the bandwagon right away. This is a great read, with memorable characters and a riveting story. Wow! The only other books I've read that come close to this one are Lamb's "She's Come Undone" and McCrae's "Bark of the Dogwood." All of these books are excellent, but by far "White Oleander" is my favorite.
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