BookBright
ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSAlly Nickerson has been to seven schools in seven years, and at each one she has hidden the same secret. Reading is really hard for her. Letters seem to squiggle and dance on the page, and bright white pages give her headaches, so she covers it up with jokes, stalling, and trouble that lands her in the principal's office. Now, in sixth grade, she gives her pregnant teacher a bright card with yellow roses on it without realizing it is a sympathy card, and Shay, a classmate who is especially unkind to Ally, is quick to make fun of her for it. Then a young new teacher named Mr. Daniels takes over, and he seems to notice a lot more than Ally wants him to. She also starts making friends with two other kids who don't fit in. Keisha is a new girl who bakes hidden words into cupcakes, and Albert is a boy who talks like a science textbook. Ally fills her Sketchbook of Impossible Things with wild drawings, but the most unbelievable thing she can think of drawing is "me doing something right."
Free Battle of the Books questions for Fish in a Tree
SPOILERSEvery one of these has the same answer, and that is the point. In a real battle the question is read aloud with a dozen other books in play, and students have a few seconds to place it. Here is what a battle might ask about Fish in a Tree. Use them as a quiz, a trivia round, or BOTB practice.
Where in the book they come from
- Early in the book
In what book does a brother haggle to get a Mercury dime thrown in for his little sister?
✓ Answer
Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
At a dusty pawn shop, Travis offers thirty-six for a Walking Liberty half dollar if the man adds the dime for Ally, and they settle at forty. Both coins were minted in 1933, the year Grandpa was born.
- First half
In what book does a girl wear a fake sling and invent a cat named Pork Chop?
✓ Answer
Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
To get out of writing stories, Ally pins a big piece of cloth into a sling and says she tripped over her cat on the stairs. When Mr. Daniels asks the cat's name, Pork Chop pops out, and he jokes that the neighborhood dogs must like that.
- First half
In what book does a girl close her hand around a butterfly, hoping it will carry her wish?
✓ Answer
Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
At Shay's birthday party at the Butterfly Gardens, Ally remembers Albert's story that butterflies carry whispered wishes, and her hand closes loosely around one. When the butterfly lands on the ground, Shay says Ally probably killed it, and the wish itself is never revealed.
- Second half
In what book does a boy on a museum tour explain that sleep tight comes from tightening mattress ropes?
✓ Answer
Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
In an upstairs bedroom at the Noah Webster House, the guide asks where the saying came from, and Albert explains that old mattresses sat on ropes that were tightened when they sagged. Shay whispers a mean bedbug joke about him, but his answer shows how much Albert knows.
- Second half
In what book does a teacher have a girl write letters in shaving cream on a huge metal sheet?
✓ Answer
Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
After Miss Kessler's tests show that Ally has dyslexia, Mr. Daniels begins helping her after school. Writing big letters in the foam lets her use sight, touch, and her whole arm, which he calls more ways for the signals to reach her amazing brain.
- Near the end
In what book does a boy wrap a stepped-on ant in a tissue to bury it at home?
✓ Answer
Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
During a class discussion, Oliver screams "Ant murderer!" at Shay for stepping on an ant, and she laughs at him for caring. Mr. Daniels asks Oliver to cut Shay a break, and after Oliver mumbles sorry, Mr. Daniels tells him he has one of the kindest hearts he knows.
