Introduction

Editorial Review

Amazon Best Books of 2013 : Counting by 7's is a delightful, powerful, and beautifully written book that I can’t forget and want to give to everyone around me. Holly Goldberg Sloan's quirky characters nestle into your heart and stay there, particularly 12-year-old Willow Chance. A young genius obsessed with the number seven, plants, and diagnosing medical conditions (especially skin disorders that she can surreptitiously photograph) Willow is a true outsider looking for a way in. Her parents tether her to the world, and when they are killed in a car crash Willow’s comfortable sphere is shattered. Though a tragedy, the loss of her parents is also Willow’s entry into the lives of others. The bond she forms with an unlikely cast of characters is heartfelt and transformative. Like Willow’s beloved plants, these are people putting down new roots and rising toward the sun. --Seira Wilson

Excerpt

chapter 1

willow chance

A genius shoots at something no
one else can see, and hits it.

We sit together outside the Fosters Freeze at a sea-green, metal picnic table.

All four of us.

We eat soft ice cream, which has been plunged into a vat of liquid chocolate (that then hardens into a crispy shell).

I don’t tell anyone that what makes this work is wax. Or to be more accurate: edible, food-grade paraffin wax.

As the chocolate cools, it holds the vanilla goodness prisoner.

Our job is to set it free.

Ordinarily, I don’t even eat ice-cream cones. And if I do, I obsess in such a precise way as to prevent even a drop of disorder.

But not today.

I’m in a public place.

I’m not even spying.

And my ice-cream cone is a big, drippy mess.

I’m right now someone that other people might find interesting to observe.

Why?

Well first of all, I’m speaking Vietnamese, which is not my “native tongue.”

I really like that expression because in general, I think people don’t give this contracting muscle credit for how much work it does.

So thank you, tongue.

Sitting here, shaded by the afternoon sun, I’m using my Vietnamese whenever I can, which turns out to be often. I’m talking to my new friend Mai, but even her always-surly and scary-because-he’s-older big brother, Quang-ha, says a few words to me in their now only semi- ... view entire excerpt...

Discussion Questions

1. Losing a loved one can be a very difficult experience. This is especially true for Willow Chance, who loses both parents at a young age and is left alone in a world that she doesn’t fully understand. Have you ever been in a situation that made you feel as lonely as Willow? What would you have done if you were in her position?

2. Eventually Willow finds comfort and hope from five very different and unexpected friends. Have you ever lost anyone with whom you were particularly close? If so, did anyone help you cope? If not, have you been that person for someone else?

3. Counting by 7s is about the true meaning of family and how the definition can be fluid. What is your definition of family? Do you have any friends you would consider family?

Weblinks

»	Author Holly Goldberg Sloan
»	Publisher's Book Info

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