Twelve-year-old Willow Chance is a genius. She also loves the number 7 and is obsessed with plants and medical conditions. Her adoptive parents love her more than anything. Willow feels the same way about them. They are different, but they fit together perfectly. When Willow's parents are killed in an accident everything changes. She has to leave the garden she has worked on for years, the place that has been her comfort zone and allowed her to grow. The two people who took care of Willow are gone. She's hoping to find a place where she belongs. Those who help her along her journey will never be the same. Will she find another place she feels comfortable? Will Willow be able to create a new garden? Is it possible for her to move on? Read this touching book about loss, change, and hope to find out!
Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan is a book that took me by surprise! I read it in just over day because I was curious about what would happen to Willow and the people in her life. Willow's unique personality made her endearing. Willow is smart and caring. I like the way her brain organized things, and that she was so knowledgeable about plants and medicine. It would be fun to talk to her and see her green thumb in action. She cracked me up, and I liked the way 7 kept showing up in her life (it's one of my favorite numbers). I think anyone who has experienced a major loss will connect with this story. Although Willow had tragedy strike her life, the story was about her search for another place where she belongs, and about how she dealt with her grief. I recommend this book to anyone in fifth grade and up that is ready for an emotional story with characters that will make them think. It's been a while since I finished this book, and I'm still thinking about Willow. I can't wait to read another book by this author soon!
Has anyone else read Counting by 7s? Or have you read another book by Holly Goldberg Sloan? We’d love to hear your thoughts!
Excellent guessing, Riddlers! Next week we're counting to seven. Tune in Monday to find out how the answer ties into the story. See you all around the book block. ~ F
The answer is how many you see, or a lady Borg who was set free. A solid ball to the cue. It may be a lucky- if you think that’s true.
To celebrate our trip around the sun, we're featuring a project that has been in the works this past year. If you follow this blog, you know what I'm referring to- Rainbow Ride is complete! This was a fascinating art project to watch evolve.
The final world represented on Rainbow Ride is violet, and though I had no clue what I wanted it to be, my mind followed the path to the most magical elements I could imagine. It brought me to a place from my childhood that held exactly what I was seeking- red dragonfly, thunderstorm, willow trees, swans, lake, woods, and rocks.
The essence of true magic!
Dragonfly Lake
So sit back, take a breath, and relax into Rainbow Ride. All are the same on this ride, but each is very different.
RAINBOW RIDE
(best with headphones)
If you're interested, here's how this art project evolved-
It all started with Eleanor Skeleton, and she came to be for no reason at all. These are the kinds of things that happen if you allow yourself to just follow a tangent idea and flow with it. She came out awesome, I had fun, and as you know, she's a spooktacular hostess here on the blog.
Eleanor Skeleton- October 2020
Once I had completed Elly, I had all those craft gems and glue left, and I did have fun working with them, so I made my friends and family these seasonal crystal creation cards, and one of them came out as the Enterprise!
December 2020
I adored making the cards. It really brought home the feeling of sending good vibes out there- plus, again, fun for me. This is when I started to like the style of art that was emerging. I've been drawing for so long, I felt like it was time to move to another level and see where my imagination would take me.
Creating the scene with the Enterprise (above Risa, btw :) was a blast. I wanted to see it in a more permanent state where I could imagine in orbit any time I want. I'm not sure how I decided on using the 12"x12" textured colored paper, but I did, and that decision set in motion my formula for making the Crystal Creation scenes in Rainbow Ride.
Red alert! Alien Arachnoid invader! January 2021
The next world on Rainbow Ride, before it was Rainbow Ride, became Everything Beautiful. This scene came about from a story Stephanie told me about one of her students in the library. They asked her for a book that had all the beautiful things, like fairies, unicorns, mermaids. Stephanie knows tons of books with these elements included, but there wasn't one that had them all. I decided that would be a super fun scene to imagine, and so it was!
Everything Beautiful- February 2021
And then, Rainbow Ride came into view. I pulled out all the stops for this one. It is made with gems, copper wire, magnets, mirrors, even home grown crystals- the works! When the light hits this piece, it doesn't know where to go. It was a trip creating Rainbow Ride and thinking about how the whole project would come together in the end.
=
Rainbow Ride- March 2021
Morning Glory Rose Garden Bliss arose from the feeling of wanting serenity in a garden. This scene was crafted in April, and my skeleton was longing for the sun and warmth.
Morning Glory Rose Garden Bliss- April 2021
The next stop on Rainbow Ride took me to Piekne Place. This quaint street developed itself. I had so much fun finding out how the street would come together and what was happening in the moment I captured the scene. When I make Crystal Creations, I complete one element at a time, so the end picture is a surprise. It's very satisfying to finish, but the pressure is on when it gets close to completion.
Pienke Place- April 2021
In the midst of all of this, a Rainbow Myxtress was born.
The most surprising world was Jungle Jewels. I have never drawn a jungle before, so this was new territory. A unique and brilliant world to imagine. I love how the colors came together in this scene. It was a complex, challenging, and wonderful piece of art to create!
Jungle Jewels- August 2021
Under the Sea is a world close to my heart. As a pisces, I am part mermaid, and I imagine Atlantas would have felt like home. I am a fan of the creatures of the deep, particularly the octopus. Everyone loved Ariel, I liked Ursula- lol.
Under the Sea- November 2021
And our final destination on Rainbow Ride is Dragonfly Lake. As I mentioned, I wanted this world to represent the most magical elements I could conjure- a really unique and satisfying scene. That path led my mind back to Lake Mamanasco in Ridgefield, CT- the place where my creativity bloomed as a child. It is also the location that inspired the Begonia House and Ruby Begonia. It's a special area that makes me feel just so in my heart. This scene was complex to build, but it was a delight. In this place there is a huge, twisted tree in a meadow that overlooks the lake. I used to play all sorts of games under the branches when I was a kid. Later on in life, I heard that the tree had been struck by lightning. I have a piece of a branch from the tree that cracked off in the storm in my garden and wild strawberries pop up around it.
Dragonfly Lake- December 2021
When I work on art I like to listen to ambient sounds, like thunderstorm or crackling fireplace, but this past year I have been listening to a lot of philosophy and tiptoeing through the quantum realm. Exploring these subjects simultaneously helped develop the design of this project. The worlds are representative of not only their color frequency on the visible light spectrum, but also the quarks, which I have anthropomorphized (hence the faces in each bubble): red-Up, orange- Down, yellow- Charm, green, Strange, blue-Top, indigo- Bottom, violet- Tetra. Inner and outer worlds playing together with patterns of light sprinkled in colors. In one of the books by Carl Jung that I recently listened to, he talks about how important it is to visualize our own myth. I realized that was what I was doing with Rainbow Ride, capturing the essence of my own inner story. It was a mysterious, surprising, and engaging experience, and I am happy to be able to watch it shimmer on my art wall.
Remember, colors aren't heavy. They love it when you play with them.
Rainbow Ride on my art wall
Sending all of our readers love, light, and peace in 2022!
