3/5 Stars: ‘Counting by 7s’ is a Middle Grade, Contemporary by Holly Goldberg Sloan; ‘Counting by 7s’ offers an indelible, appealing outsider protagonist and a cast of quirky, good-hearted characters who intersect against a backdrop of a 12-year-old's unimaginable loss. Chapters are variously narrated either by Willow or an omniscient narrator. The ones in first person are filled with offbeat ‘field note’ observations and dry humour, as well as stunning metaphors that capture the numbing experience of grief, such as "Life, I now realize, is just one big trek across a minefield and you never know which step is going to blow you up." But Willow doesn't become bitter, and the novel is more heart-warming and uplifting than sad. Her teen friends' immigrant single mother, who's struggled to provide for her kids, kindly steps up to help Willow, and the girl appreciates how she maintains her even disposition no matter what life throws at her: "Maybe that's what happens when you've been through a lot," Willow reflects. "All of your edges are worn off, like sea glass. Either that or you shatter."