Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen Two estranged sisters forge a bond they never had as children in this new book of magical realism. Older sister Claire Waverly grew up living in her mother’s car, while Mom shoplifted a living and slept around. When her mother took her to the family home in North Carolina just before her younger sister’s birth, Claire vowed never to leave home. Sydney Waverly, however, followed in her mother’s footsteps, down to running back to Bascom with a young daughter in tow. The whole town knows that Claire has the Waverly touch – dishes cooked with the flowers from her garden will do strange things. But Sydney never thought she was a real Waverly. Claire learns to expand herself and Sydney finds her roots; they both find a little romance, as well, though that’s not the main point. I really enjoyed the relationships and the magic; the dialogue caught me the wrong way just a couple of times. The character names seemed like they were pulled right off our library storytelling roster, which was quite amusing. And for all these small flaws, this was one I ignored chores to read, a rare occurrence.