 Hi my name is Suzanne Sakai and I work at the Western Edition Branch Library and my favorite book of all time since high school is White Oleander, White Oleander by Janet Fitch. It follows the story of Astrid, a teenage girl who suddenly finds herself in the throes of the Los Angeles foster system when her beautiful yet manipulative single artist mother is in prison for murdering her lover. We follow Astrid's journey of self-discovery as she is passed on from one family to the next, where she meets a variety of interesting characters along the way. I really love this book because the themes that it deals with, such as finding one's identity and family and loyalty and making art and love, are all very dear to me. Fitch does a wonderful job of capturing the complexities, both the beauty and the ugliness of mother-daughter relationships and the landscape of my hometown, the City of Angels. Those of you who've seen the movie, it does no justice to the book, so please go read the book. Favorite book of all time!