She had just started school at Sequoia Middle School. She had never been included or had friends, so her and her parents had been hoping for a new, fresh start. Well, that didn’t quite work. The most exciting thing that happens to her there is that she is accused of cheating. She gets a perfect score on a standardized test, but nobody believes that she is actually a genius, so they accuse her of cheating. She is to go see a counselor, Dell Duke. Dell isn’t very good at counseling. He just decides if he actually has to pay attention to the kid or not, based on his Dell Duke System of the Strange. But Willow is different. She changes everything. He doesn’t know what to do with her. She is interesting.
Quang-ha and his sister Mai are Vietnamese. Quang-ha sees Dell for counseling too, but one day he stays longer than he is supposed to. Willow meets the siblings, and instantly creates a friendship with Mai. She decides to learn everything she can about Vietnamese and to arrive early at her next appointment. When Dell finds out that they are starting to become friends he gets mad. He doesn’t especially like the two siblings. A their next appointment, Mai suggests that they go get ice cream. This is Willow and Mai’s idea. Dell says okay, but he doesn’t like it. They go to the ice cream parlour then to the park. Finally, they head to Willow’s house to drop her off. Then they see the police car. Willow doesn’t know what to think. She gets out and heads over to the two officers. And that’s when her world falls apart. Her parents are dead. What will happen next? Who will care for Willow? Where will her life take her? Read Counting by 7s to find out!
I would recommend this book to mainly girls 10 and older, though some boys may enjoy it. There are a lot of things happening, especially at the beginning that you have to keep up with. A lot happens in just the first three chapters. Also, because Willow is a genius, there are a lot of advanced vocabulary words. One is eradication. This is the complete destruction of something. Most of the hard words are related to something medical or in nature.
I really liked this book. It was a really interesting story that was very unique. The story is fast-paced and you get to see inside a lot of people’s heads and watch the story unfold from their points’ of view, not just Willows. There is also a lot of interesting things that happen that you wouldn’t expect. There is a twist at the end that is surprising, but helps the story to end well. Even though Willow is the main character at the beginning of the book, the other characters come to be just as important and needed. This book is mainly about family and friendship also. I really enjoyed it overall.