LASAGNA MEANS I LOVE YOU

Mo Gallagher’s life is upended when her beloved grandmother dies and she is thrust into foster care.

Nan had been her loving guardian, raising her in a New York City apartment that she must now leave. Her uncle is unwilling to assume her care, but he gives her a notebook with a letter to her from Nan on the first page. Hoping to remain connected in some mystical way, 11-year-old White girl Mo fills the notebook with frank letters to her grandmother, hoping for signs that she is being heard. But in the rest of her life, she withholds critical feelings and information, even avoiding telling Crystal Wang, her Chinese American best friend, the truth. The chance discovery of a homemade cookbook leads to a brilliant recipe project with her own website (recipes are also shared throughout the book). Her caring caseworker and her therapist help Mo deal with changes, especially as her uneasy relationship with her foster parents leads to a devastating surprise. Fortunately, Crystal remains a stalwart, loving ally, and Mo develops special relationships with a variety of supportive new friends. Mo is confused, feisty, frightened, sometimes self-destructive, intensely needy, and loving—and she has a bigger heart and is stronger than she thinks. Readers will laugh, cry, and embrace Mo completely as they rejoice at the wonderful twist that leads to a happy new beginning for her. The New York City setting is well integrated into the story.

Deeply moving and tender.