Spells to Mend Broken Hearts

Rebecca Stead meets Sarah Mlynowski in this enchanting, relatable, and commercial story about dealing with divorce, friendship breakups, and how much we wish that magic could fix it all.

Ever since Alex's parents moved the family across the country in the middle of the school year, Alex has been a mess. Not only are her parents constantly fighting, but Alex has been having trouble making friends at her new school, and she's already embarrassed herself in front of a cute neighbor. When Alex finds her grandmother's book of small magic while unpacking in the new house, she thinks it's silly. After all, magic isn't real. But she has nothing to lose. So, as she blows out the candle on her birthday cupcake that night, she makes a wish and performs a spell to help her make a friend.That's when Tess comes crashing into her life. She knows its probably coincidence, but Tess believes it's magic, fate. Plus, Tess just broke up with her boyfriend and maybe there was something in that book that could help win him back. Together the two make their way through the spell book, healing Tess's broken heart and trying to mend Alex's broken family. Soon students are lining up.But soon the book starts to turn on her. Her parents have filed for divorce, Tess is spending all her time with the boy she cast a spell on, and Alex has to deal with the real reason for her anger about it. This time instead of trying to manipulate the people around her with magic, she'll have to work on being a better version of herself.