In the pages of a book, I always find a new world to escape into, or a new perspective on life to gain. However, one book that has moved me deeply would be White Oleander, by Janet Fitch. The novel follows a girl moving through many foster homes after her mother was arrested for murdering her boyfriend. 

The mother and daughter relationship is a prevalent theme throughout the novel, and shows how the daughter is naturally dependent on her mother, even in a relationship where the mother uses her daughter as a scapegoat rather than someone she nurtures. It teaches readers that even though you can love someone, you don’t need to let them take advantage of you. It teaches you how to move on in hard situations and become dependent on yourself instead of others. 

This novel grabs you by the heart and pulls you in, finding beauty in pain, and shows you how to find light when you are surrounded by darkness. In the beginning, her mother is her entire life, and throughout the novel she is still searching for that same connection. By the end, the only person she craves validation from is herself. The title, White Oleander, is a poisonous flower that the mother frequently makes use of throughout the novel. In contrast, it shows us how though some people may be poisonous, instead of letting the venom get you, you can plant it instead and let it grow into something beautiful within yourself.