The book Counting by 7s, by Holly Goldberg Sloan, is a realistic fiction book that tells the story of a 12-year old girl named Willow. She was adopted as a baby, her adoptive parents knew she was different than the rest but they supported her in every way that they could before the accident. She is an African American girl who has just started her first year as a middle schooler. The first month of the year, her school had to take the state test. Little does she know that the test she took would change her whole life. That test gave Willow a therapist named Dell Duke who became a very big part of Willow’s life. As you dive more into the story you can see that she is not like most kids; she is much different in more ways than one. Her favorite number is 7, her whole life revolves around the number 7.

Holly Goldberg Sloan did a very good job writing this book. This book shows many emotions including grief, sadness, and happiness. It has a variety of feelings that a middle school girl can go through. Sloan does an amazing job of keeping the reader interested in the book. There is always something going on. The book starts off calm, but as you go deeper into the story it gets more and more interesting. If you are looking for a book that talks about being different from the rest and having to take a step back I think that it would be a really good read for you. I would recommend this book for the ages of 12-20.