Puffin Books Counting by 7s

Muy bonito. Una niña adoptada, muy inteligente pero algo desubicada en su ambiente escolar, sufre una experiencia horrible y a su alrededor se teje una "red" de ayuda improbable pero exitosa. Se plantea como un libro para adolescentes y lo compré para mi hijo de 12 pero trasciende generaciones. Los personajes están tratados con mucha agudeza y cariño. Me ha encantado. El envío, como casi siempre, muy satisfactorio.

Amazing Book. The core of emotions it takes you through is so overwhelming. The plot develops very smoothly around our beloved 'Willow Chance' and it's delightful how everyone finds his/her way caring for one single person.... In love with this book <3 <3 Totally enjoyed the journey through this one.... :)

Good book. Great for bookworms, as it is a longer book.

This is the first middle-grade book I’ve read that was so compelling I couldn’t put it down. My boys were also enthralled with it and they both gave it an enthusiastic thumbs up. My eight-year old is highly sensitive about death and tragedy so the fact that he liked it even though Willow’s parents die is pretty amazing. He said he liked it because he could relate to Willow. I think most kids will find something about Willow to relate to even if they aren’t a super genius like she is. I loved Willow. I liked her observations about life and people. I thought all of the characters were wonderful even though they all had their flaws. Dell, the school counselor is horribly inept which I found to be a unique twist on this type of story. Normally, I would expect that the school counselor would be the hero, helping Willow cope with the loss of her parents. Instead, Willow is the one helping him. That’s a running theme in this story – Willow gets support from a variety of people but she teaches them all things too. It’s a two-way street. I really appreciated the fact that there were several characters of color in this book, including Willow herself. It’s nice to see diversity in any book but especially in one for children. This book was a selection for the Intergenerational Book Club my sons and I belong too. Ideas for theme related snacks included seven-layer dip and seven-layer cake. The book club is through the Unitarian Universalist church that my family attends. UUs have seven principles that we strive to live by so part of our discussion included which of the seven principles are represented in the book. (If you look at the principles on the UUA’s website you’ll probably notice that they seem pretty wordy for middle-grade kids to understand. We have more simplified versions of the them that the kids learn in Sunday school.) Anyway, I’m not trying to proselytize – I just thought it was neat that they tied into our discussion so well because there are seven of them. Counting by 7s is a powerful story about family, community and the power of love. Highly recommended for kids of all ages.

Hitting 30 and I loved this book. Found myself getting quite emotional at some parts. Recommended to many friends, although I did feel silly telling them about a kids' book :) surprisingly deep and thought-provoking