Good Book Recommendation - “Counting by 7’s” by Holly Goldberg Sloan

Art by BP, 2020

This fiction book is about overcoming sadness at a young age, and it is realistic fiction. The main theme I noticed in this book is not giving up and finding happiness despite the hard circumstances. I believe that this book is suited for 6th-12th grades.  The vocabulary and use in the book are even appropriate and easy to read for an elementary school student. 

I like this book because it shows characters that would unlikely become friends. I love books like this because they let me experience important things that I wouldn’t normally experience or even want to (for example, death). They help me understand how other people feel. While reading, I can step into the character's shoes and live in them for a while. There is a lot of great knowledge in these sorts of books. This book is also great because it has lots of humor and compassion and weird situations and unexpected kindnesses.

The main character of this book is a 12-year-old genius by the name of Willow Chance. She has a deep intuition about others but has a hard time finding friends. In the middle of the book, she suddenly becomes an orphan for the second time. Her unambitious counselor unwittingly introduces her to the Nguyen family. Her life becomes bumpy but not necessarily a bad course. She also becomes friends with a taxi driver who decides Willow is an angel sent to him from heaven. He, because of her and a prize he won, decides to even go to a medical college. At the end of this book, Willow has many friends and, even through hardships, a better life.

I loved the book because it was very heartbreaking and interesting. I read about her heartbreak with Willow over the loss of her parents and as she tries to find herself again. The main message in this book is acceptance, finding yourself, finding new friends, and dealing with grief.