If you loved

Books like Counting by 7s

A tender, quirky exploration of grief that blossoms into a heartwarming celebration of found family and the beautiful logic of the natural world. These 12 books are the closest matches in mood, pace and themes, with what each one shares with Counting by 7s.

bittersweet
hopeful
warm
eccentric

01
Mockingbird
Kathryn Erskine
A tender, literal-minded exploration of grief that slowly colors outside the lines of a black-and-white world.
Shares:
- hopeful
- earnest
- tender
02
Anything but typical
Nora Raleigh Baskin
A tender, deeply internal exploration of a boy finding his voice online while navigating the anxieties of a world that struggles to understand him.
Shares:
- hopeful
- earnest
- tender
03
Girl in Pieces
Kathleen Glasgow
A raw, visceral descent into the aftermath of trauma that slowly pieces itself back together into a mosaic of fragile hope.
Feels:
- heavy
- melancholic
- gritty
04
The miscalculations of Lightning Girl
Stacy McAnulty
A big-hearted, numbers-driven journey about calculating the messy, beautiful variables of friendship and stepping outside your comfort zone.
Shares:
- hopeful
- earnest
- tender
05
Beyond the Bright Sea
Lauren Wolk
A windswept, lyrical journey about a girl searching the horizon for her past, only to realize her true home is already beside her.
Shares:
- earnest
- tender
06
Far from the tree
Robin Benway
A beautiful, interweaving exploration of what it means to find, keep, and love a family.
Shares:
- hopeful
- earnest
- tender
07
How to Make Friends with the Dark
Kathleen Glasgow
A raw, unflinching exploration of the suffocating weight of sudden loss and the slow, painful process of letting the light back in.
Shares:
- earnest
- tender
08
Goodbye stranger
Rebecca Stead
A tender, deeply observant exploration of the exact moment when childhood friendships begin to stretch, fray, and reshape themselves.
Shares:
- bittersweet
- earnest
- observant
- tender
09
The thing about jellyfish
Ali Benjamin
A quiet, aching exploration of grief that uses the wonders of the natural world to make sense of the unimaginable.
Shares:
- bittersweet
- earnest
- tender
10
Out of my mind
Sharon Mills Draper · 2010
A deeply empathetic and triumphant journey inside the brilliant mind of a girl fighting to be heard.
Shares:
- earnest
- observant
11
Rules
Cynthia Lord
A warm, honest summer story about a girl learning to throw away her rulebook and embrace the messy, beautiful reality of her family.
Shares:
- warm
- earnest
- tender
- wry
12
Second Chance Summer
Morgan Matson
A bittersweet, sun-drenched summer of rekindled love and inevitable goodbyes.
Shares:
- bittersweet
- earnest
- tender

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