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.”
Language Register
Technical scientific vocabulary mixed with the emotional directness of a twelve-year-old narrator
Syntax Profile
Willow's narration alternates between long, taxonomically precise observations (listing plant species, describing medical conditions) and short, emotionally raw statements. The contrast between the two registers IS the character: a mind that processes the world through classification but feels the world through connection.
Figurative Language
Moderate — Willow uses metaphor sparingly but precisely, often drawn from the natural world. Plants as people. Gardens as families. Roots as belonging. The botanical metaphors are not decorative; they are how Willow genuinely thinks.
Era-Specific Language
Willow's self-regulation mechanism — a mathematical pattern that calms her neurodivergent mind
A satirical classification system for people — reductive and self-serving, the novel's critique of institutional categorization
Botanical classification language Willow uses naturally — her way of making the world orderly
Phuong's nail salon — the name captures the immigrant aspiration and daily labor that sustain the found family
The institutional system that processes Willow — well-intentioned but unable to see individuals
How Characters Speak — Class & Identity
Willow
Scientific register mixed with emotional simplicity. Uses words like 'genus' naturally but struggles with words like 'friend.'
A mind built for classification inhabiting a world that requires connection. The mismatch is the character.
Mai
Direct, protective, pragmatic. Vietnamese phrases mixed with American English. Commands more than requests.
A teenager who has learned to advocate fiercely because no one else will do it for her.
Phuong
Accented English, Vietnamese mixed in, pragmatic vocabulary centered on work and family.
An immigrant whose language reflects the daily negotiation between cultures and the primacy of practical care.
Dell Duke
Jargon-heavy counseling language that masks a lack of actual insight. Uses categories to avoid individuals.
Professional language as a defense mechanism — Dell hides behind terminology because he cannot connect with people.
Jairo
Quiet, measured, few words. Portuguese and English. Speaks through actions more than language.
A displaced person who has learned that words are less reliable than presence.
Narrator's Voice
Willow Chance: first-person, present-tense, oscillating between scientific precision and raw vulnerability. Her voice is the novel's engine — when it functions, the world is ordered and fascinating; when grief disrupts it, the world collapses into fragments.
Tone Progression
Before the accident
Quirky, observational, isolated
Willow's voice is most fully itself — scientific, funny, lonely without knowing it.
Grief and collapse
Flat, numb, stripped
The scientific vocabulary disappears. Sentences shorten. The voice becomes a shadow of itself.
Recovery and found family
Warm, integrated, hopeful
The scientific voice returns, but now layered with emotional awareness. Intelligence and feeling merge.
Stylistic Comparisons
- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon — similar neurodivergent narrator, but Haddon's Christopher is more rigidly logical; Willow is more emotionally porous
- Wonder by R.J. Palacio — both build empathy through outsider perspectives, but Willow's outsider status is cognitive rather than physical
- When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead — similar brainy middle-grade protagonist navigating a world that doesn't quite fit her
Key Vocabulary from This Book
Notable words used in this text — click to see full definitions