Counting By 7s

Willow Chance is a twelve year old genius who doesn't fit in anywhere but home.  She was adopted as a baby, and she and parents seem to have the perfect family.  Despite her eager anticipation for her new school, things don't go well.  The kids don't like her, and even her teachers are put off by her intense intelligence and inability to understand social situations.

But things are about to get a lot harder for Willow when she returns from school one day to find police officers waiting to tell her that her parents died in a car accident.  Willow has never been more alone in her life.

She will have to create a new life for herself with the help of people she barely knows.  Her ineffectual school counselor, her new friend Mai, and Mai's Vietnamese family, even a cab driver.

Willow is numb from her tragedy, but this odd and broken little girl will inspire and connect everyone around her and maybe even create a new family for herself along the way.

I loved Holly Goldberg Sloan's book and its wonderful message of finding hope in the face of tragedy!