Counting by 7s

Sloan, Holly. Counting by 7s. Dial, 2013.

Willow Chance is twelve years old, a genius, adopted, and a bit odd.  She has adjusted to her new school in spite of some rough patches, until one day when she comes home to discover that both of her parents were killed in a car accident.  Now Willow is afloat, with no family, only a few friends, and nothing to hold on to.  Willow is taken in by her friend's family, and eventually everyone lives happily ever after.

This book had me with its characters.  Willow is a lot of fun (what kindergardener tells her teacher that the storytime book's pictures are "not very interesting"?), and I got to know her well enough that I wept when her parents died and she was left afloat.  I was glad her friend's family took her in. Was the ending a bit too neat and Disney-esque?  Probably, but so much had happened to Willow by that time that I think she (and the reader) needed a happy ending.  This book will definitely be added to my library's collection. I have a group of patrons who like reading books about "kids with lots of problems," so this one will be quite popular.

Recommended for: teens, tweens
Red Flags: none
Overall Rating: 5/5 stars