The Life You've Imagined by Kristina Riggle

And the best part? She's from Michigan!
Thank you to Jen at Devourer of Books for hosting this online book club. I can't wait to finish reading the book and participate!
"Cooking is not about just joining the dots, following one recipe slavishly and then moving on to the next. It's about developing and understanding of food, a sense of assurance in the kitchen, about the simple desire to make yourself something to eat. And in cooking, as in writing, you must please yourself to please others."
For broken-hearted Olivia Larsen, nothing can change the fact that her twin sister, Violet, is gone... until a mysterious, beautiful gown arrives on her doorstep. The dress doesn't just look magical; it is magical. It has the power to grant her one wish, and the only thing Olivia wants is her sister back.
With Violet again by her side, both girls get a second chance at life. And as the sisters soon discover, they have two more dresses-and two more wishes left. But magic can't solve everything, and Olivia is forced to confront her ghosts to learn how to laugh, love, and live again.
One cold night, in a most unlikely corner of Chicago, two teens—both named Will Grayson—are about to cross paths. As their worlds collide and intertwine, the Will Graysons find their lives going in new and unexpected directions, building toward romantic turns-of-heart and the epic production of history’s most fabulous high school musical.- from Goodreads
Before leaving Millie's village, I decided to take an afternoon run on the country roads leading to her property, pas dozens of shacks made with plywood and tarp...
A barefoot man in drawstring shorts pushed an old bicycle out of the bush. He hopped on and decided to ride along in silent partnership, slowing his pedal to match my pace, occasionally yelling words of encouragement in a tongue I could feel but not understand. Then a happy, shirtless boy, no more than seven, legs speckled with clay, ran out of a shack, using all his speed to catch me. I slowed. After a handful of hollers, a few of his playmates joined him from compounds along the road. Boys and girls devising entertainment in a world without The Wiggles or Dora the Explorer. Now there were a dozen in the parade, with the man on the bicycle our grand marshal.
The sun cast lengthy shadows across the road. Darkening but still warm The children's giggles mixed with the music. Down to a fast walk now while they still ran, I stared, trancelike. Oh, those faces, those high-octane, pure-joy faces with teeth bent and noses crusted. The kids yelled and pumped their hands in the air as if they were prizefighters after a TKO, forcing me to stop beceause I was laughing so hard.
The smallest of the group, a little girl, pushed through the others. I could see the dress she wore was no more than a bedsheet with some creative stitching. It couldn't hide a bloated belly or limbs that should have been longer. What she didn't have in size, she had in affection and elan. Curiosity pushed her to swipe my leg, then stare at her fingers. I smiled and she reciprocated by hugging my knee with all her body would allow. Soon, too, the others.
A father's voice from a hut pulled them off my leg and forced a trot back to their homes. The man on the bicycle pedaled ahead. I stood in the middle of the dirt road, frozen, and I started to cry. Here was Africa.