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Summary: White Oleandar - One Riveting Book!
Review: I loved this book and am grateful I found about it, thanks to Oprah! I read this book in five days, I just couldn't find myself putting it down. There are so many things that hold true in this book that you could relate to the child growing up. Am looking forward to the next one :)
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Summary: A smorgasbord for the senses...
Review: I just finished White Oleander last night at 11:30. I was compelled to find out how it all ended for Astrid Magnussen, an unlikely heroine. While Astrid's methods for survival may seem unorthodox, they are nonetheless functional in her upside-down world. Every character and situation introduced in the book pulse and breathe with a life all their own. You can almost smell, taste and see every detail Fitch provides. I have read just about all of Oprah's picks, but I was engulfed by White Oleander like no other book since I Know This Much Is True. Fitch's writing literally attacks your senses and doesn't let go. This book, while occasionally disturbing, is an important one to read.
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Summary: Heart wrenching and very realistic
Review: I found this book to be very touching i am just 17 and find books like these to be a revelation as to how life could be beyond the one you are living. Many a time you can actually empathise with Astrid and identify with her.It is a very profound book and in reality,is a page out of everyone's life story.The beauty of this tale lies largely in the manner of presentation.Ms.Fitch has so eloquently penned those emotions,which i,until a couple of months ago,thought were too dense to be expressed in the form of words. In conclusion i'd like to say ,it is an absolutely brilliant book,a "NOT TO BE MISSED"one.
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Summary: Gosh, I wish I could say it was more exciting....
Review: The book was o.k. The cover sounds great, but I found that the story was too "hallucinogenic" for me. I'll keep it simple: When you have lots of other "must reads" on your shelf, go ahead and read those first.Is it just me, or does Oprah VERY OCCASIONALLY (I say this because I love many of her picks....Billie Letts is one of them! ) get a little too far out there with her choices. White Oleander reads nothing like the jacket cover promises--it is more of an "artistic" type of story, and although some may be fans of this, I personally am not. By the way, I was thrilled that Oprah picked a Maeve Binchy book as her choice of the month. Those of you who don't follow Oprah's choices regularly, make sure you DO read Tara Road, and then you'll want to order EVERY SINGLE THING that Maeve Binchy has written. You will absolutely fall in love with her prose--no stupid passages that you have to read 3 times, no matter how well you read. White Oleander doesn't have the grit that past Oprah selections have had. Bu the way, take this from someone who HATED "Beloved", and make your own judgement.
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Summary: Wow! As good as Where The Heart Is!
Review: I give Oprah a thumbs-up for this pick! "White Oleander" was absolutely wonderful! I read it in 3 days! Astrid is an innocent child who turns in to a hard-edged woman, due to her bad experiences in foster care. Her mother, Ingrid is someone whom I'd love to strangle. She's the epitome of a neurotic mother. This book was sooo great, I'd recommend it to everyone!
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Summary: Beautifully Written
Review: I read this book about a year ago and I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN! Incredibly well written and totally believable.
Rating: 
Summary: A very engrossing novel about real people
Review: I read this book in three evenings and was sorry to have to putit down. I deeply cared about the characters and was amazed at howwell these diverse characters were portrayed.
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Summary: Finding herself, Ingrid obtains the thing she always needed.
Review: Ingrid is a young girl growing up with a brilliant, sensual, and controlling mother. Having no identity of her own, she is thrown out into the world when her mother is convicted of murder. Having to find herself, Ingrid is tossed between a variety of foster homes and hardships. Finding strength within, Ingrid is able to confront her mother and discover the one thing that she has searched for her entire life.
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Summary: Praises for White Oleander
Review: White Oleander was wonderful. I couldn't put it down. Even at though I have never experienced foster care the author told the story so well I felt as though I had lived my life the way Astrid did. The book drew me in everyway possible. I had to take a few weeks off reading books because none of the ones I started compared to this one. I recomend it highly.
Rating: 
Summary: Powerful,but so sad.
Review: The author wrote a very powerful, but such a sad story of a very disfunctional family. Hard to believe she would focus only on how a young girl, so talented, wouldn't pursue her artistic dreams.
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