Fish in a Tree

Chapters 1-10

Reading Check

1. She writes the word “Why?” all over her page. (Chapter 1)

2. Keisha, the new girl in school (Chapter 2)

3. The term Ally’s grandfather used to describe good days (Chapter 5)

4. Ally draws a big, black cube. (Chapter 10)

Short Answer

1. Ally deflects the request by suggesting that she knows all about what the poster says because she is unable to actually read the words. (Chapter 3)

2. Ally feels anxious that Mr. Daniels has taken away her “Get Out of Jail Free” card. (Chapter 8)

Chapters 11-20

Reading Check

1. A puzzle in which students have to guess the objects inside four boxes without opening them (Chapter 14)

2. She creates a fake sling, pretending she broke her arm. (Chapter 16)

3. The Island of Misfit Toys (Chapter 17)

4. He asks her to walk away next time. (Chapter 20)

Short Answer

1. Ally is eager to earn Shay’s approval, and so Ally joins Shay in teasing Albert. (Chapter 11)

2. Travis confesses that he, too, struggles with writing, so he cannot help Ally out with her assignment. (Chapter 15)

Chapters 21-30

Reading Check

1. She is hoping to make a wish on it, remembering a Native American story that claims butterflies make wishes come true. (Chapter 21)

2. Roy G. Biv, which is a personification of the colors in the rainbow (Chapter 24)

3. Chess (Chapter 28)

4. Mr. Daniels thinks Ally has dyslexia, a condition which leads her brain to understand information differently than other people but does not make her unintelligent. (Chapter 29)

Short Answer

1. She is unused to the appreciation, so she feels confused and uncomfortable, as though she has somehow done something wrong. (Chapter 23)

2. Keisha points out that Ally is not the only one who feels like she is different; being the only student of color in their class, Keisha understands what it is like to be different. However, Keisha doesn’t let this bother her, as she believes she only seems different to those who look at her “with the wrong eyes.” (Chapter 26)

Chapters 31-40

Reading Check

1. She tells them that she has dyslexia and has been staying after school to work on learning strategies with Mr. Daniels. (Chapter 34)

2. The knight (Chapter 36)

3. Ally, because Shay does not believe Ally can win (Chapter 38)

4. Because she witnesses Shay’s mother criticizing Shay harshly for losing the election (Chapter 40)

Short Answer

1. The new manager doesn’t understand the way Travis thinks and keeps insisting that Travis use the manuals to carry out his work rather than go by feel, as he always has. (Chapter 32)

2. When the substitute teacher reads aloud Mr. Daniels’s alternate instructions for Ally, she feels singled out and humiliated—betrayed that Mr. Daniels would do this to her. (Chapter 35)

Chapters 41-51

Reading Check

1. Antibiotics (Chapter 42)

2. Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing (Chapter 44)

3. A paperweight with a Winston Churchill quote that reads, “Never, never, never quit” (Chapter 47)

4. Travis (Chapter 51)

Short Answer

1. Ally and Keisha make the t-shirts to complement Albert’s t-shirt with “Flint” written on it to demonstrate their support of Albert who is facing teasing from others. The three substances can be used together to create fire, and this symbolizes the unity between the three friends and how together they can make something fierce and powerful. (Chapter 43)

2. Albert’s nickname for Ally comes from the American pilots in China who were called “The Flying Tigers.” These pilots would repaint their planes with different designs every few missions to mislead the Japanese military into thinking the Chinese military had far more planes than they did. Albert equates this to how Ally would constantly “repaint” herself for other people all the time, making them think things about her that weren’t necessarily true. (Chapter 46)