The Wrong Way Home by Kate O'Shaughnessy

 

Last night, I finished reading The Wrong Way Home by Kate O'Shaughnessy. This realistic fiction novel is about Fern Silvana, a twelve-year-old girl who has lived with her mom at the Ranch, an off-the-grid sustainable futurist community in upstate New York, since she was six. After their leader, Dr. Ben, convinces Fern that she is ready for her rite of passage that will take place on the coming spring equinox despite the fact that she won't be fifteen, her mom sneaks them away in the middle of the night, saying that Dr. Ben is dangerous. Even though Fern wants nothing more than to return to the Ranch, they go all the way to Driftaway Beach in California. She hates it at first and is determined to send a letter to Dr. Ben, but as she adjusts to her new life and makes new friends, she begins to realise that some of the things she learned from Dr. Ben just aren't true and wonders if she should really trust him.

I absolutely adored reading this novel because it was so hard to put down. I knew it would be quite suspenseful because it was obvious to me that the Ranch was a cult and Fern's mom wanted to get them as far away from it as possible, but I wasn't prepared for how hard it would be for Fern to start thinking for herself. As I got deeper into the story, though, I came to understand that the Ranch was all Fern knew for the past six years of her life. She was so young when she and her mom started living at the Ranch that it was becoming difficult for her to remember life before. I definitely felt bad for her because I wanted her to be happy and it was a struggle for her to restructure her thinking. On the other hand, I really enjoyed how she made new friends in Driftaway Beach. I like how Babs was like a second mom to her and she befriended Eddie as they worked on a science project together. I also loved that Fern wanted to do things that were good for the environment and developed a joy for reading. I thought it was cool when Alex Reyes, a young man who worked at the front desk of the motel she and her mom were living at, recommended a fantasy novel to her and then gave her a draft of the novel he was writing. As I got closer and closer to the end, I was scared of what would happen if Dr. Ben found Fern and her mom, but I was hopeful that Fern would make the right choices and I'm happy to say that the conclusion of the story ended up being totally satisfying. The Wrong Way Home is an excellent choice for anyone, but I particularly recommend it to those who wonder what living in and escaping from a cult is like for a kid.

Lasagna Means I Love You by Kate O'Shaughnessy

 

Over the weekend, I finished reading Lasagna Means I Love You by Kate O'Shaughnessy. This realistic fiction novel is about Mo Gallagher, an eleven-year-old girl who is put into foster care after her grandmother, Nan, passes away and her uncle, Bill, decides to return to the army. When she discovers a handmade cookbook with recipes from someone else's family, she decides to take it with her to read the stories behind the recipes and try making some of them as a hobby. After she is placed with pre-adoptive foster parents, June and Tate Townsend, and has to return the handmade cookbook, she meets one of the doormen, Joe Bianco, who inspires her to ask everyone she meets for their family recipes so that she can not only make them, but collect the stories behind them to share on a website. She even hopes that a long-lost relative will find her and give her a family recipe by seeing the website. When things begin to fall apart again, Mo wonders if she'll ever have family recipe of her own.

Although I'm not a foodie, this book was wonderful to read. I thought it was great that Mo took up cooking as a hobby even though Nan never cooked with her before she passed away. Although I liked June and Tate and thought they were good for Mo at first, I was so disappointed in them by the end of the book. I absolutely loved Joe and his wife, Carlota, though. They really stepped up as the story went on and played a major role in Mo's life. One of my favorite scenes was when Mo stayed with them for a weekend because June and Tate had to go to a wedding in Arizona and Joe invited his brothers over so they could all make lasagna. It was such a heart-warming scene. I also thought Mo's friends, Crystal Wang and Travis Ortiz, were really great especially when they helped Mo plan a pop-up restaurant for New Year's Eve. Even though it was looking rocky for a while, I adored the ending of Lasagna Means I Love You. It was perfect. Additionally, I enjoyed that the story was told through letters that Mo wrote to Nan in a notebook that Uncle Bill gave her from Nan and appreciated that the book showed the challenges of being in the foster care system. If you like food and stories about found family, you should definitely read this book.