Fish In A Tree by Lynda Mullay Hunt

Reviewed by Miley

What would you do if your teacher kept you after school and took out a marker and a piece of paper. Then, your teacher writes the word: 

“I M P O S S I B L E”

Well, that’s what Mr. Daniels does to Ally. Now don’t get me wrong, Mr. Daniel isn’t weird or creepy. He is only trying to help Ally. And it is working surprisingly well.

Hopefully you have heard of Fish In A Tree by Lynda Mullay Hunt, starring Ally Nickerson. She’s just your average young girl who goes to school, and plays at home just like most people. Similarly to me, she has almost two bullies at school. Jessica, who BULLIES her, and Shay, who is Jessica’s by-stander and cheerleader. They make school feel like absolute torture. Especially when they bully her for accidentally giving her old teacher a card for dead people. Ally HATES writing and English, but she LOVES doodling and drawing. She is very inspired by Alice in Wonderland, and she has a sketchbook where she gathers all of her drawings. Ally often daydreams and has mind movies. Sometimes she imagines cool adventures during class. Even though she has some subject she likes, school is still not something Ally enjoys. Well, until the new teacher arrives. Mr. Daniels. Of course, Ally assumes he will be no better than Mrs. Hall, her old teacher. But over time, she starts feeling better about school, and she even starts to enjoy class. Mr. Daniels knows about her struggles, and how she doesn’t like writing. One day, Mr. Daniels comes up to Ally, and asks her a question that will change school forever: “How about after school you come play chess with me?” Ally hears these words and immediately agrees. The next day, a different teacher comes in and runs some tests on Ally. At last, the results come in and Ally learns that she has some… well… learning differences.

The first reason that I liked the book is that it is very relatable. Ally has never been good with English, and since she has some learning differences, she struggles with reading and writing. Personally, I do not have any learning differences, but sometimes things are hard to pick up. Especially with remote learning, It is easy for straight A students to drop to the B’s. School may seem easy, and it is when you go step by step. But sometimes there just isn’t time for step by step learning. Sometimes the group speeds ahead, and you are left to either catch up, or to be left behind. To put it in a short statement, learning is hard. It will never be easy, because if it is, then you aren’t really learning. So, I am sure that if you read this book, you can relate in at least one way or another. And I think we all understand the hardships of school and academics. 

The second reason that I enjoyed reading and recommended this book is that it is a good life lesson. The reason that Ally doesn’t like English is because it is practically impossible for her to read. And if she can’t read, she has a hard time writing too. Ally has a disorder called dyslexia. It’s when you read, all the letters are scrambled, or moving. Sometimes people don’t realise just how hard it is for someone to do something when they have some sort of disorder. In this case, Jessica and Shay don’t understand that Ally has dyslexia, and they make fun of her for reading words incorrectly. I didn’t understand how hard it is for people with dyslexia to read and write, until I read this book. So this really shows you why you should never judge a book by its cover.

Overall, I would rate this book an 8/10 because it was very fun to read, but there is room for improvement. There are many great aspects of this book that I love, but sometimes the sentences are hard to read and understand. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes realistic fiction, or just wants to learn more about what other people go through in general. I really hope you read this book, and if you do, I hope you enjoy it!

 Penguins Young Readers Group, 320 pages