Morgan Minor Blog #9

1. What does this text seem to want its readers to talk about?

This text, Counting by 7’s, seems to want its readers to talk about a few things. For one, there is the odd child out, the kid who doesn’t fit in. There is also the troubled child and school counselors, which is a big topic in the book itself and leads to a lot of the events.  There is the idea of death, death of parents and how to cope and deal with that. The topics of foster care and adoption. There is a lot that goes on in this book that I personally could talk about, so that is what I feel those could be some things the text wanted the readers to talk about.

2. What connections did you make when reading this text (connections to your own life and experiences, connections to other texts like books, films, etc., connections to your knowledge of the world). How did making those connections help you better understand the book and what it seems to be saying?

There was a certain part in the book I really connected with. I lost my dad when I was a litter younger than Willow. I remember feeling some of the ways she expressed and thinking similarly actually. I wouldn’t speak. I could really relate to her, not with losing both parents, but with how she dealt with it emotionally. One thing she said in particular that really broke my heart because I felt just like this…

“I somehow make it through the first month.

I dress and brush my teeth when they tell me to.

And I experience the hollow feeling of complete loss which is emptiness.

Meaning has been drained form my life.

I force myself to think of anything but the one thing that I’m actually always thinking about.

And that is so exhausting that I sleep more than I ever have.

I am a shadow.

I no longer dream in color.

I don’t count by 7s.

Because in this new world I don’t count” (Sloan 176-177).

I know you have these questions to guide our writing as you said above but I don’t necessarily feel inspired by a few of them so I’m just going to write.

I’ll be honest; I haven’t finished the entire book yet. I have been working on it slowly. Recently I got to where I had about 50 pages left and had to go to work shortly so I skipped to the end and read the last chapter or two. I do intend to finish it. I feel really attached to the main character Willow and am very intrigued by her. I also am wondering what will end of becoming of the school counselor Dell Duke . I think that this book could serve a lot of purposes and I think it would be really appropriate to a high school or middle school student who might relate to some of the things. In the book she talks about a part where Willow goes to the library and can’t find anything for teens on death of a parent, or both. She makes a note to the library to contact publishers to take care of that. I feel that in a way this book could be her doing just that; writing a book to help kids who have lost loved ones cope, relate, or understand. I think that could be a bug purpose of this book; to help. I also think it is a good conversation starter, and can get people to think differently and open up about things and topics that I mentioned above.