Counting by 7s

Books | Juvenile Fiction / Family / Orphans & Foster Homes

(3.1K)

Holly Goldberg Sloan

In the tradition of Out of My Mind, Wonder, and Mockingbird, this is an intensely moving middle grade novel about being an outsider, coping with loss, and discovering the true meaning of family.Willow Chance is a twelve-year-old genius, obsessed with nature and diagnosing medical conditions, who finds it comforting to count by 7s. It has never been easy for her to connect with anyone other than her adoptive parents, but that hasn’t kept her from leading a quietly happy life . . . until now. Suddenly Willow’s world is tragically changed when her parents both die in a car crash, leaving her alone in a baffling world. The triumph of this book is that it is not a tragedy. This extraordinarily odd, but extraordinarily endearing, girl manages to push through her grief. Her journey to find a fascinatingly diverse and fully believable surrogate family is a joy and a revelation to read.“Holly Goldberg Sloan writes about belonging in a way I’ve never quite seen in any other book. This is a gorgeous, funny, and heartwarming novel that I’ll never forget.”—John Corey Whaley, author of Where Things Come Back"Willow Chance subtly drew me into her head and her life, so much so that I was holding my breath for her by the end. Holly Goldberg Sloan has created distinct characters who will stay with you long after you finish the book."—Sharon Creech, Newbery Award-winning author of Walk Two Moons"In achingly beautiful prose, Holly Goldberg Sloan has written a delightful tale of transformation that’s a celebration of life in all its wondrous, hilarious and confounding glory. Counting by 7s is a triumph."—Maria Semple, author of Where’d You Go, Bernadette

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More Details:

Author

Holly Goldberg Sloan

Pages

400

Publisher

Penguin

Published Date

2013-08-29

ISBN

1101591358 9781101591352

Ratings

Google: 4

Community ReviewsSee all

"god i love this book so much- it’s beautiful "

Riley

"⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Love this book! I believe that everyone needs to read this. As someone who has interacted with many individuals on the autistic spectrum I love how Sloan makes Willow more human and 3-dimensional compared to how most characters with autism are protrayed in mass media. This book shows us that hard, sad, and unfair things will happen to you, but it is how you chose to react that matters. I enjoyed watching how every character was effected by Willow in a positive way which goes to show how much impact one individual can have on multiple people. The ending was beautiful. I listened to this book on an e library, but plan to buy the hard cover to mark up. "

Kaja Korenke

"Read it for school 10/10"

Paislea West

"This book made me cry. It’s written so well and I loved reading it and couldn’t put it down and would read it all night. It definitely is sad but teaches a lot in the book."

Norah Krug

"This book made me cry many times but in the end I have a special place in my heart for it."

Potato

"A tearjerker!"

Julia Hobbs

"Sometimes you have to be the odd one out, and not follow the crowd. Just because you're different doesn't mean you're weird, if we were all the same, it would be a boring world, wouldn't it?"