WHITE OLEANDER

While her poet mother is serving a life sentence for murdering a boyfriend, gifted, sensitive, and angry Astrid Magnuson experiences every possible scenario in six years of foster care in Los Angeles where she observes, "everything drifting comes to rest." Narrator Alyssa Bresnahan has a young voice, yet her clipped, precise account keeps the reader utterly absorbed. Bresnahan boldly distinguishes among a diverse cast of characters. Thanks to Bresnahan's powerful recording, we surrender to the novel's intensity--willing this young woman's survival with all our hearts so that she can use, reshape and finally own the weighty baggage she brings to adulthood. J.H.L. © AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC/JAN 00]