White Oleander
Publisher
Little, Brown and Company
Publication Year
2000
ISBN
9780316284950
Pages
480 pages
Genre
realism
Format
novel
Item Type
Fiction
Annotation
When Ingrid, a brilliant but obsessed poet, is sent to prison for murder, her only child Astrid must find a place for herself as she journeys through a series of foster homes. With determination and humor, Astrid confronts the challenges of loneliness and poverty, and strives to learn who a motherless child in an indifferent world can become.
Grade Level
9-12
Diversity Topics
Family Relationships; Single parent; Divorce; Foster care; Incarceration; Family violence; single mother; divorced parents; foster parents; foster siblings; foster family; children's home; mother in jail; prison; sexual abuse; abusive foster mothers
Main Character
female teenager
Race/Ethnicities
White
Family Formation
single mother; foster mothers and fathers
Keywords
mothers and daughters; murder; poetry; shelfishness; religion; pedophilia; California; multiple homes; school; coming of age; foster care system
Diversity Impact
direct
STARS Citation
Fitch, Janet, "White Oleander" (2000). Diverse Families. 1942.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/diversefamilies/1942