All we know of love by Nora Raleigh Baskin

Walker Books, 2009. ISBN 9781406315516.
(Ages 14+) Recommended. By observing the quotes at the beginning of each chapter, the reader hears Natalie's story whilst enjoying the plethora of ideas that famous people have about the different types of love and the emotional responses individuals have to 'love'. Natalie's Mother has been gone for four years, four months and fifteen days and Natalie blames herself. Her Mother was in mid sentence and Natalie wanted chocolate cookies not the oatmeal cookies and wasn't really listening.
Natalie is on her way from Stamford to Florida by bus to ask her Mother about her unfinished sentence involving love. She encounters a variety of people who influence her and share their views on 'love'. Natalie learns to hear other people's views on life and love and through the stories they tell. She is learning to believe in herself and as she says on page 192: 'I have to forgive myself for something I had nothing to do with. And second, I have to pay attention to the here and now.'
Natalie is beginning to accept what she can't change and enjoy the people who love her. She's growing up.
Sue Nosworthy