Book Review: Counting by 7s

With all the driving this summer, I had the chance to listen to several books on CD. One of them was a middle school book, Counting by 7s.

The main character, Willow Chance, is a 12-year-old genius who is obsessed with plants and medical conditions. This makes her stand out as somewhat of a freak. In fact, her parents try to give her a new start by sending her to a middle school where she would interact with all new students. When the students are given the state proficiency test, Willow not only finishes it in 17 minutes, but has a perfect score. She is labeled as cheater and sent to counseling with Dell Duke, an inept but well meaning person. During her sessions she crosses paths with a Vietnamese brother and sister and impresses the girl, Mai, by speaking Vietnamese with her, just one of the languages Willow has taught herself.

When both of Willow’s parents are killed in an accident, Mai claims Willow as an old family friend and takes her to the garage they call home across from her mother’s nail salon.  And this begins an  unusual journey that brings unlikely people together—Willow, an adopted African American 12-year-old;  Pattie, Quang-ha and Mai Nguyen, the Vietnamese family; Dell Duke, the counselor who classifies the students he counsels into groups named The Strange, Misfits, Oddballs, and Lone Wolves (but later has to create new categories as he gets to know Willow, Quang-ha and even himself better); and cab driver Jairo Hernandez.

Pattie moves her family from the garage to Dell Dukes apartment in order to make social services believe she has the ability to care for Willow. This brings about a series of changes that throws everyone’s life into upheaval at times.

But as Willow’s life intersects other's, people are changed, and although there’s not a happily-ever-after, there’s a good-enough ending for all of them.

There are some spots that are a bit contrived or where coincidence played too much a part, and there are some parts of Willow’s grief that may not be too realistic, but it’s a good read nonetheless, and a change from the ever popular fantasy or dystopian genre.

The story is told in narrative from each person’s point of view from Pattie to Quang-ha, Mai, Dell,to Jairo, and Willow. It is a bit confusing to be jumping from head to head, but perhaps this is something that is easier to follow in the book than on CD. It’s an unusual style, but it works for this story.

This book is a secular book and has no Christian content about dealing with grief or the hope of Heaven. 

If you know of Christian books in which the main character faces the loss of someone close to him/her, please share it in the comments section below.

Book Review: There You'll Find Me

There You’ll Find Me

Jenny B. Jones

Finley Sinclair is struggling with grief after her older brother’s death. That grief leads her to Ireland for her senior year of school in order to follow her brother’s travels as documented in his journal.

Instead of finding the peace she hoped for, Finley meets famous teen actor and heart throb Beckett Rush, known for partying, is assigned a cantankerous dying woman as her adopted grandmother for a school project and searches for a Celtic cross pictured in her brother’s journal. She’s sure the cross holds the key to finishing her composition for her upcoming music audition at Manhattan music conservatory so finding it is a high priority.

Although her brother felt close to God in Ireland, Finley can’t seem to find that same peace or the cross. When Beckett insists she be his assistant in exchange for him being her tour guide, new problems arise, including an overly jealous classmate who tries to discredit her at every chance.

Things spiral out of control as Finley battles a new issue while dealing with the stress of trying to complete seemingly impossible assignments and hoping for closure both for herself and her newly assigned grandmother.

As things start to both escalate and resolve, Finley wonders if God could have been with her all along.

I read this book on my phone while waiting for appointments and was drawn in by the realistic characters and Finley’s search for the cross that she believed would bring her peace. The characters were pretty typical of the ones you’d find in most high schools, and while Finley was the “good girl,” she was also flawed.

A bit predictable, but a good read.

From the author's website:

Jenny was born and raised in Arkansas, growing up with a love to read and create stories. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English, a Masters in Teaching, and a Masters of Library and Information Studies. 

She sold her first book, In Between, in 2005, and has gone on to write Young Adult, New Adult, and romance. She’s been a RITA finalist, a Christy finalist, an RT Top Pick, RT Reviewer’s Choice nominee, and has won four Carol Awards.

Jenny has spent nearly twenty years in the education field, teaching English, drama, creative writing, and speech. She currently serves as a library media specialist for one of the largest school districts in Arkansas.

 When she’s not writing, Jenny loves to travel, watch movies, spend time with her family, and obsessively decorate and redecorate her house.