CPUL Release: White Oleander KINDLE MOBI by Janet Fitch H.A.

Thirteen-year-old Astrid Magnussen, the sensitive and heart-wrenching narrator of White Oleander by Janet Fitch, is burdened with an impossible mother in Ingrid, a beautiful gifted poet whose scattered life is governed by an enormous ego. Tough, irrepressible, funny, and warm, Astrid is one of the most indelible characters in recent fiction-to my mind as startlingly unique as "Scout" from Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird".
As the only child of single parent Ingrid, a self-indulgent yet brilliant poet--a woman very aware of the manipulative power of her mystique and beauty--Astrid often has to accept that her mother's sense of worth has little to do with being a mother; in her mother's world Astrid is really not that important. In spite of this, Astrid worships her mother, and treasures the rare moments she has Ingrid to herself, holding on to every word from her mother's lips as if they are small jewel dropped into Astrid's heart. Astrid's idyll is shattered when Ingrid falls apart over a lover. Unable to accept her inability to conquer the man's heart, deranged by his rejection and obliviously unconcerned about what will become of her child, Ingrid murders the man.
Ingrid is sentenced to life in prison, and an unforgettable story of Astrid's journey through a series of foster homes follows. Her effort to find a place for herself seems impossible considering the circumstances. Each home is its own universe, with a new set of laws and lessons to be learned. Yet with determination and humor, Astrid confronts the challenges of loneliness and poverty, and learns how to invent an identity far above being the "abandoned" child of a self-centred and selfish mother.
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