书名：Counting by 7s数字7的魔力
难度：Lexile蓝思阅读指数770L
作者：Holly Goldberg Sloan
出版社名称：Puffin Books
出版时间：2014
语种：英文
ISBN：9780142422861
商品尺寸：13 x 2.7 x 19.7 cm
包装：平装
页数：416
7是个神奇的数字
彩虹有7种颜色
人生有7位挚友

Counting by 7s《数字7的魔力》这本小说告诉读者，在我们人生的每一个阶段，总会有7个人关心你、影响你的人生、甚至改变你的世界。许多人把此书形容为每一天都会给读者带来魔力的神奇读物。

A New York Times Bestseller
In the tradition of Out of My Mind,Wonder, and Mockingbird, this is an intensely moving middle grade novel about being an outsider, coping with loss, and discovering the true meaning of family.
Willow Chance is a twelve-year-old genius, obsessed with nature and diagnosing medical conditions, who finds it comforting to count by 7s. It has never been easy for her to connect with anyone other than her adoptive parents, but that hasnt kept her from leading a quietly happy life . . . until now.
Suddenly Willows world is tragically changed when her parents both die in a car crash, leaving her alone in a baffling world. The triumph of this book is that it is not a tragedy. This extraordinarily odd, but extraordinarily endearing, girl manages to push through her grief. Her journey to find a fascinatingly diverse and fully believable surrogate family is a joy and a revelation to read.

Praise for Counting by 7s
"A graceful, meaningful tale featuring a cast of charming, well-rounded characters who learn sweet—but never cloying—lessons about resourcefulness, community, and true resilience in the face of loss."—Booklist starred review

"What sets this novel apart from the average orphan-finds-a-home book is its lack of sentimentality, its truly multicultural cast (Willow describes herself as a "person of color"; Mai and Quang-ha are of mixed Vietnamese, African American, and Mexican ancestry), and its tone. . . . Poignant."—The Horn Book starred review

"Willows 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."
—School Library Journal starred review

"In a beautifully written story, Sloane weaves a tale of unexpected family and belonging that will change anyones opinion of what it means to be a part of something." —Childrens Literature

"In achingly beautiful prose, Holly Goldberg Sloan has written a delightful tale of transformation thats a celebration of life in all its wondrous, hilarious and confounding glory. Counting by 7s is a triumph."—Maria Semple, author of Whered You Go, Bernadette
12岁的Willow是一个从小被领养的女孩，她自我描述为一个“没有希望的边缘人物”。中学刚开始的时候，Willow在学校的考试中获得了满分，但她的老师不相信，以考试作弊的理由把Willow送到了问题学生顾问Dell老师的办公室。

Dell老师被描写成为一个草率、笨拙、无能的老师。他不屑一顾的给了Willow一份额外的考题，但结果让他大吃一惊，全部是A。从此之后，Dell渐渐发现Willow竟是一个天才。

不过，她是一个非常着迷于大自然和植物、喜欢在游戏中扮演医生角色的可爱小姑娘。她自我放松的时候喜欢数数——从1数到7，从8数到14，依次类推。在这个世上，只有她的养父母理解她。她的养父母在一次车祸中丧生后，她的世界彻底黯淡了。Willow像她喜欢的植物一样坚强：人们种下了新的种子后，它们在微风与阳光里继续成长。

Dell老师开始竭尽全力开始帮助她。渐渐地一些个性古怪的小孩子组成了一个小集体，他们来自不同的家庭背景，每个人都与常人定义的“完美”相差甚远。但是，他们却像一家人一样相处得非常好。Willow自己说：“当你愿意去帮助其他人的时候，你自己人生也会变得多彩。”
Holly Goldberg Sloan，出生于美国密歇根，童年时期曾经在荷兰、土耳其、华盛顿、加州和俄勒冈州尤金市生活过。写过许多书，也执导过许多成功的故事电影。她现与丈夫和两个儿子住在加州的圣莫妮卡市。

Holly Goldberg Sloanwas born in Ann Arbor, Michigan and spent her childhood living in Holland, Istanbul, Turkey, Washington DC, Berkeley, California and Eugene, Oregon. After graduating from Wellesley College and spending some time as an advertising copywriter, she began writing and directing family feature films, including Angels in the Outfield and Made in America. Counting by 7s, her first middle-grade novel, was a New York Times Bestseller. The mother of two sons, Holly lives with her husband in Santa Monica, California.
We sit together outside the Fosters Freeze at a sea-green, metal picnic table.
All four of us.
We eat soft ice cream, which has been plunged into a vat of liquid chocolate (that then hardens into a crispy shell).
I don’t tell anyone that what makes this work is wax. Or to be more accurate: edible, food-grade paraffin wax.
As the chocolate cools, it holds the vanilla goodness prisoner.
Our job is to set it free.
Ordinarily, I don’t even eat ice-cream cones. And if I do, I obsess in such a precise way as to prevent even a drop of disorder.
But not today.
I’m in a public place.
I’m not even spying.
And my ice-cream cone is a big, drippy mess.
I’m right now someone that other people might find interesting to observe.
Why?
Well first of all, I’m speaking Vietnamese, which is not my “native tongue.”
I really like that expression because in general, I think people don’t give this contracting muscle credit for how much work it does.
So thank you, tongue.
Sitting here, shaded by the afternoon sun, I’m using my Vietnamese whenever I can, which turns out to be often. I’m talking to my new friend Mai, but even her always-surly and scary-because-he’s-older big brother, Quang-ha, says a few words to me in their now only semi-
secret language.
Dell Duke, who brought us here in his car, is quiet.
He does not speak Vietnamese.
I do not like to exclude people (I’m the one who is always excluded, so I know how that feels), but I’m okay with Mr. Duke being an observer. He is a school coun­selor and listening is a big part of counseling.
Or at least it should be.
Mai does the lion’s share of the speaking and eating (I give her my cone once I’ve had enough), and all I know for certain, with the sun on our faces and the sweet ice cream holding our attention, is that this is a day that I will never forget.
Seventeen minutes after our arrival, we are back in Dell Duke’s car.
Mai wants to drive by Hagen Oaks, which is a park. Big geese live there year-round. She thinks I should see them.
Because she’s two years older than me, she falls into that trap of thinking all little kids want to stare at some­thing like fat ducks.
Don’t get me wrong. I appreciate waterfowl.
But in the case of Hagen Oaks Park, I’m more inter­ested in the city’s decision to plant native plants than I am in the birds.
I think by the look on Dell’s face (I can see his eyes in the rearview mirror) that he’s not very excited about either thing, but he drives by the park anyway.
Quang-ha is slumped in the seat and I’m guessing is just happy that he didn’t have to take a bus anywhere.
At Hagen Oaks, no one gets out of the car, because Dell says we need to go home.
When we first got to the Fosters Freeze, I called my mom to explain that I’d be late getting back from school. When she didn’t answer, I left a message.