Counting by 7s

By Holly Goldberg Sloan

This is a tween novel that I couldn't put down even though it is, at times,  heart-wrenching.  Twelve-year-old Willow Chance is an adopted mixed-race girl with loving white parents.  Willow is the child who is super-smart yet friendless - very mature and engrossed in her interests in lieu of hanging out with friends.  She takes an achievement test, aces it, is accused of cheating and is required to have sessions with less-than-competent school counselor Dell Duke.  While waiting for one of her sessions, she makes a friend in Mai Nguyen.  When the unthinkable happens, Mai and her brother and mother, and even Dell Duke come together and save the day for Willow even as she saves them back.    

~ Linda