White Oleander is a young adult novel that illuminates societal issues in various facets of American life, including the broken foster system and the corrupt legal system. Although its target audience is those of a high school to college level, it is relevant for anyone looking to better understand these issues from a narrated perspective. The events described within it are fictional but could easily be an account of real-life abuses and injustices.

The protagonist of White Oleander, Astrid Magnussen, is an innocent victim of horrific trauma and is exposed to many experiences that someone her age should not, including statutory rape, drug use, attempted murder, and physical abuse. All the while, she is shifted from foster home to foster home, and her mental health is never attended to. As a result, she continually spirals into more and more destructive habits. This is a common phenomenon for neglected children, particularly those in foster care; 19.2% of foster youth in the United States have some substance use disorder (“Prevalence of Adolescent Substance Use Disorder Across Five Sectors of Care,” Aarons et al., 2001), and with society’s tendency to overlook foster children, they are less likely than average youth to receive support for it.