Astrid of White Oleander

I'm currently on page 145 of White Oleander, and I have already learned quite a bit of what kind of person Astrid is and is becoming. Astrid is an easily impressionable fourteen year old, but the person that makes the biggest impression on her is her mother. Astrid practically worships the ground that her mother walks on, admiring how beautiful and strong she is. She wishes she could be more like, at least in my opinion. She also starts to follow the ways of her first foster home, with being baptized and all. Things happen that normally wouldn't, I believe, because she is surrounded by that kind of behavior. Since her mother's conviction, Astrid becomes more lonely and upset just looking for a way to "survive", as she puts it. So far Starr, her first foster mother, finds out about the affair between Astrid and Ray, her boyfriend, and shoots Astrid in a drunken rage. Astrid is in the hospital for a few weeks until she is well enough to go to another foster house. This next house belongs to a bossy housewife, her two children, and her husband. She finishes out her ninth grade year at the local junior high and is still trying to get herself together to be able to deal with it all. That's as far as I've gotten, but hope to see her progression as the story evolves.