White Oleander portrays a beautiful story of a mother-daughter relationship,and the search for feminine identity. Ingrid, the selfish, irresponsible mother of Astrid, is a famous poetry writer in California. She drags her thirteen year old daughter with her everywhere she goes; writer conventions, on dates with her many lovers, book signing, and parties. She protects herself from the world of men, and engraves her ideas into Astrid as well. When Ingrid is convicted of the murder of her ex-boyfriend, Barry, she is sent to prison for life, leaving Astrid abandoned and alone to fend for herself. Astrid begins on a long trip of foster homes, from one crazy household to the next. Every family she lives with varies in their ideas and lifestyle, however, Astrid finds ways to cope with stress, abuse, sexuality, love, and most importantly, survival. With every new foster home, comes a new experience. The trials of life and endurance through tough and changing times becomes Astrid's everyday lifestyle. Astrid becomes more detached from her mother the more she experiences maturing and growing up. Janet Fitch uses vivid words, strung together almost as poetry in first person point of view. The language is beautiful, yet an easy read. The story line allows the reader to sink into the ink on the book and become totally absorbed, in the material When I read White Oleander, I immediately fell in love with the characters and was able to identify and relate to the characters. This is my new favorite book!