Lasagna Means I Love You

Author Kate O'Shaughnessy

Grades 3-7 Ages 8-12

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.

Available Formats

Trade Paperback 9781984893901
Hardcover 9781984893871
eBook 9781984893895
Unabridged Audiobook Download 9780593666784

State Awards

Illinois

2025, Rebecca Caudill Young Readers’ Award, Nominee

Iowa

2025, Iowa Children’s Choice Award, Nominee

Maine

2025, Maine Student Book Award, Nominee

Nebraska

2024-2025, Meadowlark Award, Nominee

Nevada

2025, Meadowlark , Nominee

North Dakota

2025, North Dakota Flicker Tale Award, Nominee

Vermont

2024-2025, Golden Dome Book Award, Nominee

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