40 Fun Facts About Fish in a Tree

In Fish in a Tree, what kind of card with yellow roses does Ally give at Mrs. Hall's baby shower?

Sympathy cards are what Ally's mom sends when someone has died, but Ally picked this one for its flowers and had no idea what it said.

In Fish in a Tree, Ally draws her daydream 'mind movies' in a book she calls the Sketchbook of what?

Impossible Things is a nod to Alice in Wonderland, the story Ally's Grandpa loved to share with her. Late in the story it is no longer the only thing that makes her happy.

In Fish in a Tree, Albert tells purple-wearing Shay that the royal dye once came from which animals?

Snails supplied the slime behind the color, Albert explains, and one medieval cloak took three thousand of them. He and Ally agree they would rather wear beige.

In Fish in a Tree, what job does Ally do from the back seat of Travis's old car?

Working the wipers by hand falls to Ally because the motor has died, so Travis rigs them with springs and a rope. To her the car looks like a pickle on wheels.

In Fish in a Tree, what does Ally wear to school to dodge Mr. Daniels's story-writing task?

An arm sling on her writing arm is Ally's excuse, blamed on tripping over a cat called Pork Chop. Mr. Daniels looks doubtful and hands her a book instead.

In Fish in a Tree, the color wheel Ally spins for her hero Roy G. Biv blurs into which color?

White is what the spinning wheel shows, though most of the class had guessed something dark. Mr. Daniels had already called Ally an out-of-the-box thinker for inventing the hero.

In Fish in a Tree, what does Ally overhear about the friendship bracelets worn by Shay's followers?

They are for sale: Jessica still owes $3 for her last one, and Shay sneers that Ally could have one for $10. Ally sees then who her true friends are.

At the holiday concert in Fish in a Tree, what does Ally do when Keisha's flowers are taken away?

Ally splits her own bouquet in half so her classmate has some too. The music teacher takes both halves away, yet the two girls sing with the biggest smiles and become friends.

In Fish in a Tree, the poster in Mrs. Silver's office says the bravest thing to do is what?

Ask for help is the poster's message, the one Ally bluffed about months earlier. This time the principal says sorry for not spotting her struggle sooner.

In Fish in a Tree, what finally makes Albert fight the boys who leave him bruised?

They push his friend down, and the boy who rejects violence finally swings back, warning the bullies never to touch his friends again. He walks taller afterward.

In Fish in a Tree, Ally heads after school to A. C. Petersen Farms, where her mom has which job?

Waitress is the job Shay and Jessica sneer at when they come in for ice cream. Their dig that Ally could do it too if she could read the flavors makes her fear they know her secret.

In Fish in a Tree, Max is thrilled to learn that Ally's deployed dad drives what for the Army?

A tank is what her dad drives, which comes out when Shay objects to the soldier's picture hanging in Ally's diorama. Max fist-bumps Ally and spreads the news.

In Fish in a Tree, what does Ally's brother Travis dream of opening once he is out of school?

A restoration shop named Nickerson Restoration is the plan, and Travis mends machines by feel. Getting through school, and later a boss who wants repairs done by the manual, stand in his way.

In Ally's family in Fish in a Tree, a good day is a silver dollar day; what is a bad one called?

A wooden nickel day is the family's code for a bad one. Ally later decides that as a coin she would be a wooden nickel herself, even after giving the best answer of the year.

In Fish in a Tree, Ally shows a 1943 steel penny, minted when copper was needed for what?

Ammunition for World War Two took the copper, Ally tells the class. Her dad gave her and Travis a penny each when he deployed, as reminders that they are unique.

In Fish in a Tree, what clear liquid does Albert drink from a jar at show-and-tell?

Water, which Albert first describes as two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen, came from his own kitchen. He wants the class to see how small humans are in the story of the planet.

In Fish in a Tree, what name does Keisha plan to give her baking business?

Hidden Messages is the name, and her show-and-tell cupcake has 'yum' standing inside it in dough letters. Mr. Daniels calls the possibilities infinite, which Albert disputes with math.

In Fish in a Tree, what does Ally draw to test Mr. Daniels's promise not to correct notebooks?

A black cube, she admits, is a dark room where nobody can see her. Mr. Daniels replies that he is glad she isn't invisible, and Ally decides she wants to impress him.

In Fish in a Tree, which word does Ally write over and over on her page for Mrs. Hall?

Why is the one word on the paper, written at the reading table after Ally scribbles on her desk. Mr. Daniels later asks her what the page means.

Albert's Flint T-shirt in Fish in a Tree honors a character who fled unkind people in which series?

Star Trek gave Albert his Flint, a man who settles on his own planet and builds robots to protect him. Albert, bullied most days, says he understands the appeal.

In Fish in a Tree, Ally thinks Shay turned on her after Ally won which school prize?

The art award is one cause; the other is a lunchtime mix-up in which Ally grabbed a hunk of Shay's cake, wrongly believing Shay had eaten her cheese crackers.

At Shay's birthday party in Fish in a Tree, why does Ally cup a butterfly in her hand?

To make a wish is her aim, because Albert once described a belief that a butterfly carries a whispered wish to the spirits. Shay calls her a freak show for it.

In Fish in a Tree, Mr. Daniels says Ally deserves a trophy for telling apart which two words?

Alone and lonely differ, Ally says, because the first can be a choice and the second never is. Worst of all, she adds, is the second kind in a room full of people.

In Fish in a Tree, why does Ally run from class after her poem wins Mr. Daniels's prize?

She thinks it's pity, not merit, because classmates wrote poems she rates far above hers. Keisha follows her into the bathroom and says wanting to fit in with Shay's crowd is silly.

In Fish in a Tree, Mr. Daniels says tutoring Ally after school will count toward his degree in what?

Special education is what Mr. Daniels is studying, so he presents the tutoring as Ally doing him a favor while formal accommodations are arranged. She thinks she would sleep at school if it worked.

In Fish in a Tree, Mr. Daniels first mentions dyslexia to Ally on a trip to whose historic home?

Noah Webster's house is where Mr. Daniels finds Ally outside on a swing set after Shay humiliates her. Ally had just decided the dictionary maker was a jerk for standardizing spelling.

In a colonial schoolroom in Fish in a Tree, what does Shay draw on her slate above the label 'Ally'?

A dunce cap on a head is the drawing, made just after the guide shows the class a real one. Ally runs out in tears, and her teacher follows.

The saying about a climbing fish behind the title Fish in a Tree is popularly credited to whom?

Einstein usually gets the credit, though quote researchers doubt he ever said it. In the novel Mr. Daniels tells Ally only that someone once did.

In Fish in a Tree, Ally practices huge letters with her finger on a metal sheet covered in what?

Shaving cream lets Ally write her letters huge, because Mr. Daniels wants her to learn words through more senses than just her eyes. He compares it to taking another road to the same place.

In Fish in a Tree, Ally pictures classmates as chess pieces; which one is Shay, for scaring others?

The queen is Shay's piece, while Albert is the slow but valuable king and Keisha the quick bishop. Ally then wins the game and asks whether her teacher let her.

In Fish in a Tree, Shay nominates Ally herself, yet Ally beats her by secret ballot for which role?

Class president goes to Ally after a speech promising only to magnify everyone's ideas, while Shay pledged bigger lockers and extra recess. Ally had assumed the whole class loved Shay.

At the end of Fish in a Tree, what does Ally run back and ask of Mr. Daniels?

Teach her brother to read is the request, made the moment Ally sees that Travis, a natural mechanic, has been fighting the same battle with words. Mr. Daniels comes straight out to meet him.

Which former teacher wrote Fish in a Tree as her second novel, after One for the Murphys?

Lynda Mullaly Hunt sat in the lowest reading group from first grade through sixth, and has called the novel a giant thank-you note to the teacher who turned that around.

In Fish in a Tree, Albert fools Shay by claiming to see some letters backwards; what's special about the ones he lists?

They're symmetrical, so each looks the same either way round, and Shay stomps off without spotting it. Albert had argued that reversed letters are a sign of intelligence, making Ally smarter still.

In Fish in a Tree, Albert privately calls himself the Elephant because of which trait?

Thick skin is his reason, not size or memory, and he adds that happy and sad can look alike on an elephant. Ally realizes he has been feeling everything all along.

In Fish in a Tree, Ally's shirt says 'steel' to go with Albert's Flint; what does Keisha's say?

Magnesium completes the set, because together the three can start a blaze, a nod to their teacher's favorite challenge to the class. Albert, teased for his shirt all year, almost smiles.

In Fish in a Tree, Ally once read aloud that which food swims at 20 miles per hour?

Macaroni came out where the page said manatees, and when everyone laughed Ally pretended she had meant it. Playing the clown is how she keeps her trouble with words a secret.

In Fish in a Tree, Oliver, whose dad sells lamps, announces that he will grow up to sell what?

Hangers are Oliver's plan, on the grounds that everyone needs them. Mr. Daniels calls him clever, praise that Ally suspects he has rarely heard.

In Fish in a Tree, Albert asks if Ally would rather swim beside a killer whale or which creature?

A stonefish is Ally's pick and, Albert says, the wrong one, since it is extremely venomous. He argues people fear the whale only because of its name, which sets Ally thinking about the power of words.

In Fish in a Tree, what is fastened inside the mystery box that only Ally figures out?

Two glue sticks, tied together and taped to the sides, had stumped everyone before her. Ally reasons that the object must be fastened, and earns her first high-five from a teacher.