Lasagna Means I Love You, Kate OShaughnessy
Lasagna Means I Love You, Kate OShaughnessy
List: $23.00 | Sale: $16.10
Club: $11.50

Lasagna Means I Love You

Author: Kate O'Shaughnessy

Narrator: Annie Q

Unabridged: 7 hr 43 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 02/21/2023

Includes: Bonus Material Bonus Material Included


Synopsis

What are the essential ingredients that make a family? Eleven-year-old Mo is making up her own recipe in this unforgettable story that's a little sweet, a little sour, and totally delicious.

Nan was all the family Mo ever needed. But suddenly she’s gone, and Mo finds herself in foster care after her uncle decides she’s not worth sticking around for.
     Nan left her a notebook and advised her to get a hobby, like ferret racing or palm reading.
     But how could a hobby fix anything in her newly topsy-turvy life?
Then Mo finds a handmade cookbook filled with someone else’s family recipes. Even though Nan never cooked, Mo can’t tear her eyes away. Not so much from the recipes, but the stories attached to them. Though, when she makes herself a pot of soup, it is every bit as comforting as the recipe notes said.
     Soon Mo finds herself asking everyone she meets for their family recipes. Teaching herself to make them. Collecting the stories behind them. Building a website to share them. And, okay, secretly hoping that a long-lost relative will find her and give her a family recipe all her own.
     But when everything starts to unravel again, Mo realizes that if she wants a family recipe—or a real family—she’s going to have to make it up herself.

This audiobook includes a downloadable PDF that contains recipes and photos from the book.

About The Author

KATE O’SHAUGHNESSY is a Newbery Honor winner for The Wrong Way Home and author of The Lonely Heart of Maybelle Lane, and Lasagna Means I Love You.     She is a book nerd, animal lover, former chef, and an outdoor enthusiast. When she’s not writing, you can find Kate in her garden, eating good food, hiking with her dog, and chronically mispronouncing words she’s read but never heard said aloud. She lives in California with her family.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Amina on October 26, 2023

✰ 3.5 stars ✰ “I want someone like you. I want someone like you to want someone like me. Not for charity. Not because taking care of me “is the right thing to do.” But because they love me.” As someone who loves lasagna, the title Lasagna Means I Love You was calling out to me. Mo, short for Maure......more

Goodreads review by Katie on April 08, 2023

My 2023 heartprint book (so far!) Told through journal entries, eleven year old Mo had just lost her Nan. The only other family Mo has left is her uncle, who has decided he’s not ready for the commitment of raising a kid. Finding herself in foster care, Mo discovers a cookbook full of family recipes......more

Goodreads review by Afoma (Reading Middle Grade) on February 14, 2023

Lasagna Means I Love You is an achingly tender portrait of a girl searching -- through food and recipes -- for a family to belong to. Readers are in for a treat with this one. Prepare to have your heart warmed and squeezed by Mo and her crew, experience New York City in all its vibrancy, and learn w......more

Goodreads review by Katherine on January 08, 2023

LASGNA MEANS I LOVE YOU is a poignant and tender story that will stay with you. Mo is everything you want a friend to be–brave, curious, kind, and loyal. Her search for family and belonging is universal. Buy this for yourself and a few more copies for your friends!!......more

Goodreads review by Ashley on April 06, 2024

I had some big feelings during this read. This had everything, and I loved it.......more


Quotes

★ "Readers will laugh, cry, and embrace Mo completely.... Deeply moving and tender." —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

★ "[An] 11-year-old in mourning navigates foster care and seeks connection by collecting families’ recipes and stories in this tenderly rendered, character-driven novel.... Extremely satisfying." —Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Mo, imperfections and all, is a winning heroine. To be read with snacks at hand, and perhaps also some tissues." —The Horn Book

"Will pull at the heart strings of all readers." —School Library Journal


Awards

  • North Dakota Flicker Tale Children's Book Award
  • Vermont Golden Dome Book Award