Counting By 7’s main theme is the importance of friendship. Throughout the book, the author shows how friendships develop, that true friends help you discover different aspects of yourself and they make you push your limits. One of the biggest thing that is mentioned many times in the book is that true friends accept you for who you are. Friendships don’t always formed immediately. Often, they take time to develop, especially if in the beginning, the two people don’t like each other. This is seen with Willow and Quang-Ha. At first, Quang-Ha is annoyed as to why this strange girl (Willow) is even living with them. However, over time, little tasks and moments bring them together. Finally, Quang-Ha accepts Willow when she able to plant a beautiful garden in the complex. He himself says, “I don’t want to know how you did it. I want to believe you’re magic.” I myself have …show more content…
All those people that she has to live with after her parent’s way, make her into a better person, without consciously wanting to. In the book, this is shown when Dell starts to run, and then Willow joins him, for she feels she has done a disservice to herself in terms of physical fitness (p. 272). During her run, she experiences many difficulties (muscle spasm, breathing, dry mouth), but she still continues to run. While reflecting later on, she says, “Maybe I’m more competitive than I though.” (p. 277). In our society, the right friends bring out the best in you. For Willow, Dell, Mai, Quang-Ha, Pattie, Jairo, all these people made her step outside of the little bubble she was previously living in. Friends make us step outside of our comfort zone. They can make us try-out for something even if we’re scared to do it, such as trying out for a sports team. The right friends help us make the right choices by pushing us and making us try new things which makes us discover new things about ourselves as a