Fish in a Tree

Ally—the protagonist and narrator of Fish in a Tree—is an intelligent, witty, and creative middle-school student. She has strong math skills—strengthened by her family’s interest in antique currency—and impressive artistic skills. Ally has a fascination with Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, spurred by her recently deceased grandfather, with whom she was very close. Part of her fascination with the book stems from her identification with Alice. As Ally phrases it: “a book about living in a world where nothing makes sense made perfect sense to me” (19).

Ally struggles with all reading and writing-related tasks at school. She goes to great lengths to avoid these tasks, and her strategies include humorous deflection, feigned sickness (escaping to the nurse’s office), and misbehavior (which forces the teacher to send her to the principal’s office). Her struggles originate from dyslexia, a learning difference which often makes some letters appear backward and some appear to float on the page. Though Ally’s teachers are supportive, they often mistakenly believe—because of her strong intelligence—that her struggles with reading and writing can be fixed if she simply applies herself. This misconception carries over from school to school, as Ally moves around frequently, following her father’s career with the military.

Though Ally’s learning differences make her feel lonely and isolated, she develops imaginative outlets to help her cope with her day-to-day life, including “mind movies” (short entertaining scenes that appear in her mind like a motion picture) and her Sketchbook of Impossible Things (which derives its name from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland). She also seeks solace in her close relationship with Travis, her older brother, who shares both her interests and her learning struggles.

When Ally gets a new teacher named Mr. Daniels, her outlook begins to change dramatically. He assigns challenging group puzzles that allow Ally to demonstrate her exceptional talent for problem-solving. He schedules after school chess games that allow Ally to develop her already strong mathematical and visual-spatial abilities. He also discovers her dyslexia and gets Ally the help she needs to diagnose—and adapt around—her learning difficulty. With Mr. Daniels’ help, Ally reads and writes with confidence and fluidity, even to the point where she enjoys these tasks.

Ally also forms strong friendships with Keisha and Albert, whose courage and intelligence fortify her own. By discovering the value of friendship, Ally comes to appreciate the unique qualities, abilities, and struggles of those around her, developing into a more empathetic and understanding person. By the end of the book, Ally also becomes an ally for her brother Travis, inspiring him to seek help from Mr. Daniels for his own dyslexia. 

Travis is Ally’s older brother. He is a high school student who works part time at a local garage where he fixes cars and machines. He has a talent for fixing and restoring old things and a passion for renovating valuable antiques. He also has an impressive knowledge of old coins.

Though Travis is a very intelligent person, he struggles with dyslexia, just as Ally does. These struggles not only lead to difficulty with school, but friction with a new garage boss who wants him to fix things using the manual. By the end of the book, however, Ally’s success in school inspires him to seek his own help and tutelage from Mr. Daniels, the teacher who empowered Ally to feel anything is possible.

Keisha is a new student at Ally’s school, and she is the only black student in the classroom. Though she secretly harbors feelings of anxiety about her difference, she is brave and courageous, often standing up for herself (and others) against bullies. Keisha’s bravery, confidence, and ability to embrace her own differences attract Ally’s friendship.

Keisha is also a very creative and talented baker who enjoys making cupcakes that spell short words (with dough letters) inside them. For the classroom show-and-tell, she presents a cupcake that spells “Yum.” To thank Ally for standing up for her at a school concert, Keisha gives her a cupcake that spells “Wow.” Keisha’s cupcakes help Ally realize that words do not need to hurt her; they can also be sweet.

Albert is an extremely intelligent boy in Ally’s class who enjoys studying science and watching Star Trek in his spare time. He is an intensely logical thinker and often applies analogies to life situations in order to help him understand the world. Though Albert is often wise and insightful, he is sometimes confused by highly subjective interactions and emotional responses. Ultimately, he has a kind, generous, and thoughtful nature (even if his highly sophisticated thoughts can be difficult for other students to understand).

Albert’s father is an inventor, and he inherits much of his intelligence and love for science from him. Unfortunately, his father’s inventions don’t earn much money for his family, and Albert’s poverty is evident in school (from his prepaid lunch to his wardrobe, which consists of cut-off sneakers and the same “Flint” shirt every day).

Albert’s eccentricity makes him a frequent target for bullies. At school, he is bullied by Shay, a rich, popular girl, for his worn old clothes. After school, he is often beat up by a group of younger boys. Initially, Albert refuses to fight back against Shay or the boys, as he doesn’t believes in violence. However, as he forms strong friendships with Keisha and Ally, he develops a knack for using his intelligence to defend his friends. As a result, Albert’s self-confidence grows over time.