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Counting by 7's Holly Goldberg Sloan

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Brief synopsis (no spoilers): There are so many things going on in this book that there is no way to make a "brief" synopsis. 
Willow Chase lived with her adoptive parents in Bakersfield, California. There in the midst of the high desert, she grew a garden in her backyard, her sanctuary. She was excited about starting a new school, hoping this time she might fit in, might find a friend. Willow had been identified in preschool as highly gifted, most of the time causing confusion and feelings of ineptness in her teachers. Now at her new school she is accused of cheating because no one has ever finished the state proficiency test in just 17 minutes, let alone gotten a perfect score. Her reward is behavioral counseling with Dell Duke, an ineffectual counselor with organizational and social issues of his own. She does make a friend when Mai Nguyen brings her brother, Quang-ha, to his appointment, and their lives begin to intertwine when Willow's parents are killed in an auto accident. For the second time in her life she is an orphan, forced to find a “new normal.” She is taken in temporarily by Mai's mother, who must stay ahead of Social Services. While Willow sees herself as just an observer, trying to figure out the social norms of regular family life, she is actually a catalyst for change, bringing together unsuspecting people and changing their lives forever...Willow's story is one of renewal, and her journey of rebuilding the ties that unite people as a family will stay in readers' hearts long after the last page.–Cheryl Ashton, Amherst Public Library

Category: YA

Why I chose this book: Award winner, interesting title

My personal opinion (the review): Wow, this was an emotional powerhouse of a book. I almost don't know how to describe my feelings about it. There were definitely a few parts that I didn't like (see the warnings section below), but overall I was drawn in and brought along for the emotional roller coaster. It's definitely non-traditional but I love the message that family is not always defined by blood. Seeing all the effects that one girl can have on so many lives is also intriguing.  

Warnings:
Death: Willow's parents are killed in a car crash.
Other: When they go to Dell's apartment it is a mess - full of beer bottles, trash, and piles of dirty underwear. Some of the characters live in very humble circumstances that might be hard for first world kids to understand. One scene describes two of the characters "bonding" over looking for scantily clad women and violent TV shows together. It's fairly vague, but I almost put the book down at this point.  

Movie rating equivalent: PG-13 or even PG-15

Protagonist description: Willow is a 12 year-old genius who loves gardening. She is very strange and set in her own way of doing things. She doesn't have many friends, but tends to be quite self confident in who she is, while also trying to navigate the middle school scene. 

Point of view of story: 75% is from Willow, but occasional chapters are told by Dell, Pattie, and Jairo. Willow also often gives insight into the other characters thoughts and feelings in her descriptions. 

Book length: Medium

Story flow: Follows Willow's feelings. Things flow (mostly) well at the beginning, drag after her parents die, and slowly rebuilds as she begins the recovery process. 

Grammar and spelling issues: None. 

Character connection (no spoilers): None

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