Counting by 7s
Holly Goldberg Sloan (2013)
“A twelve-year-old genius loses everything and discovers that the family you build can be stronger than the one you were born into.”
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Counting by 7s
Holly Goldberg Sloan (2013) · 378pages · Contemporary
Summary
Willow Chance is a twelve-year-old genius obsessed with nature, medical conditions, and the number seven. When both her adoptive parents are killed in a car accident, Willow — who has never fit in anywhere — must navigate the foster care system and the terrifying prospect of being truly alone. Through a Vietnamese nail salon owner, a troubled teenager, a disorganized school counselor, and a taxi driver, Willow discovers that the family you choose can be as real as the one you lost.
Why It Matters
Became one of the most widely read middle-grade novels of the 2010s. Praised for its representation of neurodivergence, its multicultural cast, and its refusal to sentimentalize grief. Used extensively in schools to teach empathy, diversity, and the concept of found family. Named to numerous stat...
Themes & Motifs
Diction & Style
Register: Technical scientific vocabulary mixed with the emotional directness of a twelve-year-old narrator
Narrator: Willow Chance: first-person, present-tense, oscillating between scientific precision and raw vulnerability. Her voice...
Figurative Language: Moderate
Historical Context
Contemporary America — foster care system, immigrant communities, neurodivergence awareness: The novel is set in a contemporary America where institutions — schools, foster care, counseling — are designed for average cases and fail exceptional ones. Willow's genius, her adoption, her grief...
Key Characters
Talking Points
- Why does Sloan choose to have Willow narrate her own story rather than telling it from an outside perspective? What do we understand about grief differently because we hear it in Willow's clinical, scientific voice?
- Willow counts by sevens to calm herself. What does the number seven represent in the novel, and what does it mean when she stops counting?
- Dell Duke's classification system sorts people into types (Oddball, Lone Wolf, Dictator). Why does the novel present this system as both funny and harmful? What's wrong with categorizing people?
- Willow is accused of cheating because her test scores are too high. What does this reveal about how institutions handle people who don't fit their expectations?
- How does the novel portray the foster care system? Is the system presented as cruel, incompetent, or simply overwhelmed? Use specific examples.
Notable Quotes
“I am not trying to be difficult. I just can't stop myself from finding things out and then connecting them in ways that other people don't see.”
“I count by 7s. It has always calmed me down.”
“I feel as if I've been trampled by an elephant. Not in the physical sense. In a deeper, darker way.”
Why Read This
Because Willow thinks differently than anyone you've met in a book before, and by the end you'll understand that thinking differently is not the same as thinking wrong. The writing is funny and sad at the same time, which is how real life actually...