Author: Kate O'Shaughnessy
Genre: realistic fiction
Similar books: Sizzle by Lee McClain (note: this one skews a little older but the themes are remarkably similar)
The Truth About Twinkie Pie by Kat Yeh
Rating:
Summary (provided by publisher): 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.
My opinion: The plot to this one is a bit predictable but I found that it didn't really matter. Because Mo is a charming, believable protagonist. She makes real kid mistakes, has difficulty relating to the adults in her life and seeing things through their eyes. And the book does acknowledge degrees of privilege. Yes, Mo is in foster care. But she's a cute white kid who gets places in a wealthy foster-to-adopt situation almost immediately. We also see the difference between wealth and care, between material needs and emotional connection. Because that's really what Mo is hunting for throughout this book - a connection beyond physical needs. Some of the plot elements are fairly idealized and there are things that come far more easily than they should but the positives outweigh the negatives.
More information: Lasagna Means I Love You releases February 21.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley
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