Rating: 
Summary: uneasy story about childhood today
Review: While their stories may begin and end differently White Oleander by Janet Fitch is the story of many American children. Too many children spend their childhood's in foster care, like Astrid Magnussen. Astrid is placed in the foster care system when her mother Ingrid murders her boyfriend by poisoning him with oleander. Astrid suffers through one bad placement after another while her mother attempts to bully and direct her life from prison. Throughout the book Astrid maintains an inner strength and a degree of niceness that is surprising given her circumstances. This is an uneasy story about childhood today. Janet Fitch presents a multi- layered tale of a troubled and difficult mother daughter relationship. Ingrid admits to her that she feels that Astrid was like a spider weaving her webs around her and suffocating her. Astrid views a Kandinsky in the art museum and sees a picture of grief and abandonment. While this book provides insight and complex relationships, it is a quick riveting read. The reader is quickly drawn into Astrid's story. It is easy to root for her and hope she finds her way through her difficult childhood.
Rating: 
Summary: Imaginative, but little else
Review: I really, really tried to get through this book. I just couldn't do it. Instead, I found myself skipping through the last four chapters, hunting for the "interesting parts" and reading just enough to make sure I wasn't cheating myself out of a good book. I wasn't. Much has been written about the author's "ear for language." To me, it seemed liked forced poetic language; flowery, contrived, and trite. It would have worked in small doses, but soon her style began to grate on my senses. I had a hard time believing anyone could wade through it and think it was anything close to realistic. The story was interesting in the beginning and the character development was good. But it seemed the author became bored with her own story, and what was great character development fell flat midway through. I'd probably enjoy this author's short stories, but I think I'll skip her next novel. Unless you're a woman planning one of those long nights in the bathtub, surrounded by candles and wine, I'd suggest skipping the book.
Rating:
Summary: a book worth reading
Review: I absoultely love this book. I've never read something so beautiful yet depressing. The only thing is the end dissapointed me a bit... it didn't seem like it fit. It just seemed like it was slapped on. But trust me this book is worth your time and money. I would read it again.
Rating: 
Summary: White Oleander
Review: This was a beautifully written book. However, the content was morbid and depressing. I finished it only because I enjoyed the writing style.
Rating:
Summary: A Can't Put Down Book
Review: I read this book and found it to be one of the best books I have read. The story I found to be so real. While there was some parts where there was humor, parts of the book almost had me in tears. It was like you could feel the things that Astrid was going through and could feel her fear and pain. Definetly a book worth reading.
Rating: 
Summary: A Good Read!
Review: This book sat on my bookshelf for almost a year before I read it. Once I opened it though, I had a hard time putting it down. "White Oleander" reminded me a lot of Wally Lamb's "She's Come Undone". We're introduced to a young girl living with her mother, and we accompany her on her journey through her adolescent years into adulthood who finds out that the saying "If it's too good to be true, it probably isn't" most definetly rings true. A few times I felt that the author left the reader hanging after specific situations occured, but overall, this is a wonderful book and you should buy it and then let a friend borrow it!
Rating: 
Summary: Poetic, but stark
Review: I would like to say that I liked this book, but I really didn't. The language was absolutely beautiful, but I hated Astrid's character. She was not a hero, she was a survivor. She was an example of a person that life has made continually hard, and who responds to it by looking out only for herself. The best example of it is the big house where she doesn't get enough to eat. When she was given the opportunity to escape from it or press charges and help all the other foster children still in that situation she opted for the easy way out. She was increasingly lazy about caring about people and blamed it on her lack of imagination. That was because she was so busy trying to protect herself that she didn't have room to protect anyone else. She was like a scruffy understarved animal that was all teeth and claws. Finally towards the end of the book she becomes truly cynical and begins to take things out on herself. I found her seriously annoying. She wasn't that different from her mother and that was why she hated her so much. I guess it is realistic though, and that someone who had that kind of life could easily respond that way.
Rating:
Summary: This is a fabulous book
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this book. White Oleander is engaging and beautifully written. After reading this book, I often find myself thinking about Astrid and her experiences. As a future social worker, this book inspires me to improve the foster care system so kids like Astrid can have at least one caring adult to depend on. I encourage you to read this book not only for its ability to engage the reader, but to gain an understanding of the ways in which our child welfare system is lacking and its negative impact on children caught in the system. Because of Astrid's ever changing environment, her identity is ever changing as well. This book beautifully demonstrates Astrid's needs for acceptance and stability. I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: A New Imprint
Review: As a young adult, I found the journey to maturity that Astrid, the main character, undertakes to be one that hit surprisingly close to home. Janet Fitch writes honestly while remaining creative, which is no small accomplishment. When I finished the novel, I felt that I had gained a new appreciation for the world Fitch describes. Though it has been several months since I finished 'White Oleander', the characters have stayed with me; I find myself wondering what they would think of different situations. The imprint of characters onto my consciousness is one of the greatest compliments that I can give to a literary work, and this novel certainly achieved that distinction.
Rating:
Summary: Incredible & Intelligent Journey
Review: White Oleander was an incredible and intelligent journey through Astrid's young eyes. Told in the first person, Fitch allows Astrid's POV to tell volumes about the girl as she moves through an unconventional life in Los Angeles meeting diverse characters. When I drive through LA now, I wonder which house Astrid could have been in. I did not want to finish this book because I knew I would miss Astrid. Please read this book and know that not all children grow up in pleasant and stable situations. I wish I could write like this. I can't but I am so grateful Fitch did.
| 
