Title: Fish In a Tree
Author: Lynda Mullaly Hunt
Genre: Contemporary, Realistic Fiction
Number of pages: 266
Lexile level: 550L
Grade level: undefined
Interest level: 6 - 8

      Ally has always been a bit of a trouble maker.Whenever it's time for reading, writing, or word problems in math, she suddenly acts like she's sick or acts out and gets sent to the office. Having been to seven schools in seven years because of her dad being in the military, none of her teachers have ever been able to figure her out and just get frustrated with her. But Ally has a secret...

she's can't read.

Since she's in the 6th grade, she figures that she must be dumb for not being able to read. The mean girl in class, Shay, and her friends call her a freak, dumb, and a loser and Ally just wishes she was invisible. She doesn't care for words, but two words she knows very well are alone and lonely.

   But she's making friends with other misfits in her class - Keisha, a tell-it-like-is-not-afraid-of-anything girl who happens to be the only African American in their class, and Albert, a boy so smart he's like a walking Google search but wears the same shirt everyday and always has bruises on him - and together they make a great team.

    They all have a new teacher, Mr. Daniels, and he is different from any teacher Ally has ever had. He won't send her to the office; he'll talk to her instead. He doesn't cover her papers in red ink. He's actually encouraging and gives class assignments that she can excel on. After school, he teaches her how to play chess and they practice reading. Though Ally believes that reading is impossible for her, Mr. Daniels believes that they can make what's impossible possible.
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In the classroom:

• Ally and her friends are constantly using beautiful examples of similes, personification, and other alliterations. 

• There are many references to the book Through the Looking Glass (Alice in Wonderland) which would be a wonderful classic for students to explore before, during, or after reading this book. 

• Ally goes from feeling invisible to invincible. Students can track her changes in her perspective of herself. 

This book is highlight recommended for every teacher to read as well. Where Ally's past teachers may not have had ill-intentions, it's important to see, from Ally's perspective, that their attitude towards her being a difficult student had deep, painful, and long-lasting effects on her. While reading about her classmates, it's clear that there are other students with mild disabilities as well. To me, the greatest lesson of this book isn't one that's directed at the students, but instead the teachers. Take a few notes out of Mr. Daniels's book and see if you can't turn a struggling student around.