Rating: 
Summary: A work of art
Review: This is nothing short of the best book I have ever read! It's both page-turning and makes you think.Astrid's mother poisons her boyfriend and is taken to jail. Astrid goes through a number of foster homes; some loving, some not. The whole time, you can see Astrid's change. And I felt it myself. One of the best books of all time. It does deserve more than just 5 stars. A must read!! ~Atalanta
Rating:
Summary: most influencial book i have ever read
Review: if i were told to select one book that has influanced the way i think and write, i would have to pick white oleander. the language is pure, thick and unforgiving of the shock it might cause you. i read the above interview by David Peter Birkett, and would have to profoundly disagree with him on the "morality issue." i think the feelings portrayed by the girl in the book were true to life. though she is young, at that age i had a healthy sexual appitite, many girls of that age do. though i do not expect you to know this due to the fact that you are male, and have no experiance or knowlage to base your criteria on. i would also like to clarify that the word "rape" by definition is described as "the crime of forcing another person to submit to sexual acts, especially intercourse." you may not remember, but she was the one who initiated the sex, not the man. though he was obviously suffering from petofelia, just because he is older does not mean he raped her. the sex was consensual and was started by the young woman, who by your descriptions is not allowed to have a sexual appitite. the book was the best i've ever read, and the most poetic. it will remain my favorite book forever. good luck to David in his crusade to criticise all ideas he knows nothing about.
Rating:
Summary: Poignant
Review: Astrid Magnussen's mother, Ingrid, is strong, self-relying, and unsympathetic to weakness of any kind. She also has strong rules against love and the way it should properly handled. Ingrid is Astrid's world, everything she knows she learned from her mother, but she finds herself teaching herself to survive when her mother kills a lover (whom she falls in love with, breaking every rule she ever had) who tossed her aside. I didn't expect to like this as much as I did. I watched the movie first and liked it. I was pretty much willing to accept what had been told in the movie, but I am glad that I finally read the novel. It was hard to put this book down. The reader follow Astrid from innocence to maturity. We also see her progress from being the doting daughter to the cynical teen who loves and hates her mother at the same time. She does a lot of growing up in her foster homes, and she learns many things that aid her in the struggle to survive. Ingrid still plays a vital role in Astrid's life even though she's in prison. Ingrid is literally Astrid's world even in the confines of prison. She can still manipulate Astrid's life, even though Astrid tries to prevent that from happening. Astrid and Ingrid's relationship is a complex one even to be a mother-daughter relationship. I didn't agree with some of the decisions that Astrid and her mother made, but life isn't perfect, why should this book be? Issues abound in this book from women's issues, maternal issues, mother-daughter issues, etc.
Rating:
Summary: Morality question
Review: I never thought I would be the one to criticize a well-written book on sexual morality grounds but see below. Anyway this is a well-written book with great characters, wonderful descriptive passages and a compelling plot.
Twelve year old Astrid's mother is jailed for murdering her boy friend and Astrid enters a disastrous series of foster homes. As her misfortunes multiply she receives diabolical advice in letters from the jailed mother. The mother is a poet reminiscent of Ann Sexton, at least the Ann Sexton portrayed in "The House on Mercy Street" (Diane Middlemarch is more benign) and (perhaps) in "Running with Scissors."
Each foster-home represents a different kind of America, from alcoholic evangelists to amoral immigrants. All are utterly convincing and vivid. It's a great story.
The only character who is not convincing is the protagonist. I know foster-children get pushed around and abused and can be defenseless victims of the system but this is an articulate, pot-smoking, condom-carrying, white teenager who has travelled the world and has highly-placed connections. When the plot demands it she is very intelligent, sophisticated, and well able to express her feelings. At other times she allows herself to be a helpless victim, like an eight year old child, unable to control her fate in any way. This is where I come to the sex bit and my censorship advocacy. The sexual desires and motives attributed to her are not plausible and owe more to adult fantasies and projections than to what goes on in a child's mind.
In one scene she is raped by a foster-father and the scene is depicted to represent the thirteen year old as a seductress who rather enjoyed it and the child molester as a rather good guy who escapes unpunished. Am I being puritanical in objecting to this?
Rating:
Summary: Better than the Movie
Review: At first you may think that because it is on the Oprah Booklist all of the sudden it is a melodramatic soap opera but it is so much more than that. The way that the charactors are defined and created makes them so perfect and easy to relate to. Even if you have never expierianced foster care, or a mother commiting murder for some reason you can never put the book down even for a second because even in the first ten pages you begin to care for the charactor and don't want anything bad happening to her and everytime something does all you want to do is help her and that is what makes this book so deep and wonderful. I would recommend this book to everyone who is over the age of 14 because there are a few parts where there is drug use among teenagers and there is talk of child abuse, suicide, and murder. I hope that you will pick up this book as soon as you can and read it White Oleander is a truly wonderful book.
Rating:
Summary: Moving, Powerful and Fearless
Review: Although this book had some startling points, it was one of the best books I have ever read. I didn't like that the mother had so much influence over Astrid, even though some of the things she said to her daughter were so hurtful. I thought the oleanders were a great representation of motherhood in this novel. Astrid seemed to portray her mother kind of spirit-like or not real, which was kind of hard to identify with but I believe that it was easier for Astrid to let her mother go and become her own person because of who her mother was. I was really glad when Astrid finally realized that she didn't need to live through her mother and her letters. She became her own unique person, which I though was really important. The ending was not promising but it did fit the story. I would recommend this to women of any age. (I think women would appreciate this story more) Also I would recommend seeing this movie first. It helps you understand the book more, and helps you appreciate how good the book really is compared to the movie.
Rating:
Summary: Don't see the movie. Read the book.
Review: I finished this book in an afternoon. I loved it so much I then got out the DVD. The book was fantastic, but the movie was really average by comparison. I guess I should have watched it first....
Rating: 
Summary: Great Book!
Review: A beautifully written novel! Fitch's best work yet! This novel shows what it is like for a child in a foster home, not only the lifestyle, but also the mental damage that is caused. A young girl is forced to survive without birth parents; she believed her mother to be an amazing woman and she looked up to her. Only after her mother being thrown in jail for murder of and ex lover, did she realize that her mother was the enemy. This was a memorable book, and it is one of those can't put it down kind of stories. Fitch shows how you never know the truth about something or someone until you are forced to live without it. This book explores issues such as sexual, mental, and physical abuse. The young girl finds herself in many difficult situations and grows a little more with each one. Fitch is a great writer and this book is a must read! JF
Rating: 
Summary: It's Okay
Review: Yeah . . . uh . . . Fitch's book isn't that great. For the most part I enjoyed it, but I responded mostly to the characters--not the writing. I think it reads very much like a first novel. People have talked about whether or not the events are believable. For me, the most tedious part of the book was the romance at the end. Other than that, I'm willing to believe these kinds of things could/do happen. I just really think White Oleander is an okay book. It's not the greatest, but it certainly isn't the worst.
Rating:
Summary: Reviting...
Review: I picked this up and read the first page...didn't put it down until I was finished. This Fitch is a "writer"!
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