Counting by 7s

COUNTING BY 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan. Dial, 2013.


Willow Chance is an extraordinarily gifted 12 year old. Her mind is constantly seeking more and more information, especially about her passions, one of which is gardening. Her parents (who adopted her when she was a baby) encourage Willow to be herself. But when Willow wants to wear her gardening clothes on the first day of middle school, they are a little hesitant. Willow IS different from the other students, at least most of them. When she achieves a perfect score on a reading test, her teacher accuses her of cheating and Willow is sent to see a counselor. And this is where the already rather eccentric tale takes an incredible turn. While Willow is seeing her counselor, her parents are killed in a car accident. What will happen to Willow now? How can she possibly cope with this situation? A counselor, a family who runs a nail salon, an apartment complex that has seen better days: all of these seemingly disjointed things and people combine to create a story of hope, family, coping, and so much more.