Blog Post on Independent Reading Book

"Counting  by 7s," by Holly Goldberg Sloan

The book Counting By 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan is about an abnormal girl, Willow Chance, who has a series of events that snowball into bigger things, and gets put in positions she doesn’t want to be. Her mother was very sick and never had a chance to tell her, and then both her parents died in a car crash on the way to a doctors appointment. Her parents never got to see Willow ever again. Before the accident Willow and her family were considered the “weirdos” on the block. Willow was the odd ball in school, it is because people didn’t know her. She loved to garden. She was really good at gardening,she had a good eye for things in the garden that needs fixing. Willow had a beautiful garden, she grew everything you could think of. Willow is a special girl even if she is a “weirdo” she has special qualities, and quirky things she does, and I think one of those things is an important symbol to the book and to Willow.

The number 7 is important to Willow, not just because it is in the title of the book, it is also a symbol. Willow was adopted and to her life with her family the number 7 is important. For example, her “mother tried for 7 years to get pregnant,” before they adopted Willow. On the 7th of July (7/7) they drove to the hospital to pick up Willow. In addition, they drove 257 [2+5=7, as Willow likes to think of it.] The day they drove home with Willow her mother cried until exit 17B [Willow tries to look for something that might be sentimental with the number 7.] The number 7 for Willow seems to be her lucky number, and has emotional value to her and her families history.

For Willow the number 7 is a thing she can think about to calm herself. For example, when she can’t sleep she counts by 7. “When I can’t sleep I list the multiples of 7’s as high as I can go until I fall asleep, 7,14,21,28 so on and so forth.” If she ever wants to forget something she counts by 7s. When she is worried or she wants to feel alone, she counts by 7s.

When Willows parents die she “stopped counting by 7s.” I think this is because the number 7 was a number that was nostalgic to her family, but when her parents die it is just her. And it is hard for her to continue using a number so important to her family if they are no longer together. In addition I think Willow was in a lot of shock. She was an only child with two parents who were devoted to her, Willow brighten up their lives up a lot. It is an important symbol to Willow and her family it shows how faithful she her family was together.

I think Willow misses them, which is why she stops counting by 7s. She doesn’t want to bring the sadness up to the surface, even though if it will always be there. The symbol being in the title makes it all the more important to the plot and the characters. Everybody should find a thing that helps them feel calm and at peace like Willow.