Rating: 
Summary: Hope the movie is better than the book
Review: Although the writing is good, there is too much tragedy in this one young girl's life. I mean constant suffering with no let-up. Well, naturally, it IS after all an Oprah book. God forbid Oprah should choose anything fun, or romantic comedy for her bookclub.Why must main character, foster child, Astrid's life, going through one foster home to the next, be frought with tragedy upon tragedy with absolutely no fun or happy moments. I know plenty of foster parents who are doing a good job and have good living situations with their foster children. In any novel you want balance. A writer should balance the happy times with the sad, at the very least, for the sake of variety. Too much unrelenting tragedy desensitizes the reader and you begin to become indifferent to all the suffering heaped upon constant suffering. On the plus side, White Oleander is page-turning, and can't-put-down-able. But, I really think author Janet Fitch should use her poetic and lyrical writing skills to write something, next time, that's lighter and not as frought with unrelenting tragedy with no let-up in sight.
Rating:
Summary: excess is not always a good thing
Review: while creating more interesting characters than most oprah list books (by interesting I mean ones possessing more dimensions than the one particular dysfunction that defines them and that they triumph over eventually), "White Oleander" is not the literary masterpiece it tries to be. I thought that the character of Ingrid was interesting and original, and her relationship with Astrid is a good axis for the book, but all the misery that befalls Astrid in her numerous foster homes feels anvil-like. Yes, her mother's worldview has had detrimental effects on her life, and she needs to separate from her, but that could have been done more subtly that the soap-opera melodramatic twists; there are just too many of them. Excess is the main flaw of this book. So, the writing is good, Ms. Fitch obviously has a way with words, but unfortunately at times this talent for spinning a metaphor approches logorrhea. Every sentence on some pages has at least three metaphores or similies for one thing, and instead of enriching an image, it just becomes exhausting and seems like the author is showing off. A more stripped-down, subdued, restrained version of this book, both plot-wise and writing-wise would have affected me more.
Rating: 
Summary: What an excellent read
Review: This book is so amazing. This is one of the most entertaining books I have read. The characters are great. Janet Finch does an excellent job with description of characters. This book will make you feel the characters emotions.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful book
Review: I truly enjoyed this book. It is the story of a young girl growing up in foster care after her mother goes to prison for murder. In each foster home, she learns something new about herself and each place molds her personality a little bit. The characters in this book are very well developed. Astrid's (the child) emotions are expressed in wonderful language. Her mother (Ingrid) is one of those evil yet likable characters that you find in literature. I highly recommend this novel for those looking for a wonderful read that will keep you hooked until the end.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent.
Review: From having a very good friend who was raped constantly in her foster home, I can definitely understand the woes of Astrid. The writing is complex, and holds so much in one sentence--one gets used to it, because it flows like a river, and it's so beautiful. Janet Fitch has an incredible gift; this is and will remain one of my favorite books. It shows what really happens, shows the horrible state foster care is in (especially here in California!), it shows the hard relationship between a mother and daughter I know so well.
Rating:
Summary: unforgettable coming of age story
Review: This is not an easy book to read because it is so heartbreakingly real. It is the story of relationships between mothers and daughters. It is also a story about coming of age, about losing and then finding yourself. Ingrid is a self absorbed poet who gets sentenced to life in prison for the murder of her lover. Her daughter Astrid gets shuffled around in the foster care system where she learns how to survive in a world that doesn't care.
It is a touching, poetic tale that I highly recommend.
Rating:
Summary: AMAZING!
Review: I was overcome with the amazement of this adventure of a young woman's search for self-discovery. Brillant. Kudos to Janet Fitch.
Rating:
Summary: An amazing book about growing up in foster care
Review: At 13, Astrid does not live a normal life. Her mother is a famous poet that pays very little attention to her. Still Astrid loves her mother and wants to be just like her. But when her mother is put in prison for killing her ex-boyfriend, Astrid is sent away. The book chronicles the next several years of her life when she goes through a series of foster homes. The religious recovering alcoholic, Starr and her children, the racist Marvel, the kind by fragile Claire, and many more. Throughout these homes Astrid makes mistakes that she may never recover from, and goes through places where people treat her terribly. But with every decision she makes she grows as a person, for better and for worse. As Astrid lives the life of a foster child, she knows that her life will never be the same again. Although I've read several Oprah's books before, I've liked very few of then, and none of them have affected me as profoundly as White Oleander. Reading this book has really made me appreciate the middle class life I led. There were points in this book where I felt so bad for Astrid that I almost cried (and that doesn't happen often to me!). Janet Filtch is an amazing author who uses some of the best description that I've ever seen in a novel. Unlike other readers I wasn't upset in the fact that she didn't go into great detail over Barry's murder, it just seemed right the way she wrote it. I highly recommend this to teenagers and adults alike. If your in the mood for a moving story about growing up in some horrible conditions, this book is for you. I highly recommend it!
Rating:
Summary: A Great and Moving Story
Review: So I'll be the first to admit that I resisted this book initially becuase of the huge Oprah book club stamp on the front. It was until my work partner badgered me enough that I relented and read it. Wow was I glad I did. This is a beautiful, haunting first novel with a collection of unforgettable characters who represent such different worlds.At the center of them like the sun is Astrid, a young girl whose brilliant and artistic mother murders her lover sending her to jail, and Astrid into a string of foster homes.The book succeeds because although there are some horrible things that happen to Astrid the character never wallows in self pity. She just keeps moving forward, and we with it like witnessing an accident site you can't turn away from. Michelle Pfeiffer should be near perfection as Astrid's mother in the feature, and Alison Lohman who plays the title role is already receiving outstanding reviews. If you liked Wally Lamb's books you'd probably enjoy this as well.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Debut
Review: White Oleander by Janet Fitch Astrid spends years in search of herself in White Oleander, the wonderful first novel by Janet Fitch. White Oleander opens with Astrid having a conversation with her mother Ingrid, alluding to death and oleanders. It is a hint of what has just transpired. We then zoom back to a few months, when Ingrid and Astrid are introduced to Barry Kolker, who becomes a pivotal person in their lives. He unknowingly sets in motion a series of events that would change and rip apart their lives forever. Barry falls in love with Ingrid, a free-spirited poet with a bohemian attitude, and despite the fact that they are from totally different worlds she falls for him. Not at first --- it takes Ingrid a bit of convincing, or so we are led to believe. But soon she is obsessed with him, and young Astrid starts to dream of having a real family, with a real father. Ingrid never believed in fathers, and never explained to Astrid who her father was or why he left them. And so Astrid begins to fantasize that Barry could be that father she never had. It is surely a dream come true. But, as all good things come to an end, so did Barry's infatuation for Ingrid. It is never explained why he leaves Ingrid for another woman, but the fact of the matter is Ingrid cannot get over it. She begins to obsess over him. Her behavior worries Astrid, especially when she sees her mother mixing up a poisonous concoction of oleander and herbs and constantly talks of revenge. We then flash forward, and Ingrid is in prison, serving time for the murder of Barry Kolker, and Astrid is being treated for depression. Eventually, they place her in her first permanent foster home. As she bounces from one home to the next, Astrid encounters different types of foster parents, different types of horrors that scar her, different types of obsessions that overtake her. When she thinks she's finally met someone in her life that can bring her happiness, something happens to take that person away from her.
I found myself becoming tired and depressed each time I thought Astrid finally had found the family that would be her permanent home, only to have something ruin it. While she is being bounced from one home to another, Astrid corresponds with her mother. With each letter, Astrid's perceptions of her mother change. Astrid had always loved her mother and worshipped her. But, with each new letter and each new home, Astrid begins to see a different side of her mother. Her eyes begin to open with the help of the hard life she leads, and Ingrid begins to see that she is losing her hold on her daughter. The relationship that they once had falls apart. An older and wiser Astrid sees her mother now for who she really is, and with that knowledge, she begins to find herself. I very much enjoyed White Oleander. Although there was a section of the book that I found somewhat anti-climatic, overall the book moved fast and I found myself totally immersed in the person that was Astrid. Her changing relationship with her mother, which was the main theme in this book, was what i found most fascinating. Janet Fitch did a wonderful job showing the growth of a single character from a shy insecure young girl to a hardened young woman that was confident about where she came from and where she was going.
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