The novel, Counting by 7s written by Holly Goldberg Sloan is a family story. This does not necessarily mean it relates just to the traditional, old-fashion, born into a wonderfully stable house-hold with mom and dad type of family. Mr. Sloan was able to take more of a modern stand to this Realistic Youth Fiction genre and transcribed a different way of family, ones with adopted children and ones made up of loved ones you may not essentially be blood related to. “Friends are the family you choose for yourself” quote by Jess C. Scott is a very well-known quote that I believe Ms. Sloan can agree to. Family is described as being the people who love you and will support you through any high-point or rough patch you are going through in life.
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Willow has her own type of special clothes for special occasions. For example, she puts on a big red hat and pants with patches on for gardening and calls this her “gardening uniform”. Willow also has coping mechanisms to calm down to release from stress and gives herself distractions from reality by counting by 7s. I can relate to this because whenever I am feeling anxious, nervous, or really upset; I tell myself to count from 1 to 10 to relax. Other coping mechanisms people like to do is be alone, drive or …show more content…
When Willow’s parents suddenly passed away, Mai persuades her mother, Pattie, to let Willow temporarily stay in their home. Pattie and Willow’s bond rapidly begins to grow through Willow’s knowledge of the Nguyen families Vietnamese history and language she self-taught herself for her own knowledge to be closer to Mai. Juxtapose to her exploration of the pain of lost ones and the triumph of moving forward, readers can experience Willows growth in mind throughout the novel and really feel the young girl become stronger from the help of people she recently met and them substancually becoming more important to her
Willow has her own type of special clothes for special occasions. For example, she puts on a big red hat and pants with patches on for gardening and calls this her “gardening uniform”. Willow also has coping mechanisms to calm down to release from stress and gives herself distractions from reality by counting by 7s. I can relate to this because whenever I am feeling anxious, nervous, or really upset; I tell myself to count from 1 to 10 to relax. Other coping mechanisms people like to do is be alone, drive or …show more content…
When Willow’s parents suddenly passed away, Mai persuades her mother, Pattie, to let Willow temporarily stay in their home. Pattie and Willow’s bond rapidly begins to grow through Willow’s knowledge of the Nguyen families Vietnamese history and language she self-taught herself for her own knowledge to be closer to Mai. Juxtapose to her exploration of the pain of lost ones and the triumph of moving forward, readers can experience Willows growth in mind throughout the novel and really feel the young girl become stronger from the help of people she recently met and them substancually becoming more important to her