Lasagna Means I Love You

Gr 5-7–O’Shaughnessy’s second middle grade novel will pull at the heart strings of all readers. Mo’s grandmother has died and her only known living relative, Uncle Bill, does not want to leave his life in the army to raise his 11-year-old niece. Mo goes into the foster care system where she finds nothing but disappointment. After a little while, a young couple decides they would like to adopt a child, and Mo fits the bill. To develop a new hobby, a suggestion her grandmother made before she died, Mo starts to explore cooking and seeking out family recipes—anyone’s family recipes in hopes she might discover someone from her own family. She gets help from the adults around her and develops a website where anyone can share their beloved family recipes along with pictures and stories. The story is told through Mo’s journal where she is writing to her deceased grandmother about the highs and lows of her new life. Recipes are included as the story progresses. The ending is predictable and comforting. Readers who enjoyed Lynda Mullaly Hunt’s One for the Murphys and Frances O’Roark Dowell’s Where I’d Like to Be will enjoy this middle grade epistolary novel.