# Fish in a Tree

**Author:** Lynda Mullaly Hunt
**Lexile:** 550L
**Grade range:** Grades 4–7
**Age range:** 9–12
**First published:** 2015
**Page count:** 304
**Genre:** Middle Grade Fiction
**ISBN-13:** `9780142426425`
**ISBN-10:** `0142426423`
**Canonical URL:** https://readinglist.school/book/fish-in-a-tree
**License:** [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) — please credit ReadingList.school when citing.

## About this book

Sixth-grader Ally has hidden her dyslexia for years by acting out and switching schools, until a perceptive new teacher recognizes how her mind works and helps her see her own intelligence. Lynda Mullaly Hunt's novel reframes a learning difference as a different kind of brilliance. A grades 4-7 classroom favorite, it is used for units on empathy, learning differences, and self-worth.

## Themes

- disability
- friendship
- school
- resilience
- bullying

## Content notes

- bullying

## Where this book is assigned

### Garden State Children's Book Award

- **recommended** · 4th grade · New Jersey — [source: New Jersey Library Association — Garden State Children's Book Award selections (statewide children's-choice program; students vote, since 1977)](https://njla.org/garden-state-childrens-book-award)
- **recommended** · 5th grade · New Jersey — [source: New Jersey Library Association — Garden State Children's Book Award selections (statewide children's-choice program; students vote, since 1977)](https://njla.org/garden-state-childrens-book-award)
- **recommended** · 6th grade · New Jersey — [source: New Jersey Library Association — Garden State Children's Book Award selections (statewide children's-choice program; students vote, since 1977)](https://njla.org/garden-state-childrens-book-award)
- **recommended** · 7th grade · New Jersey — [source: New Jersey Library Association — Garden State Children's Book Award selections (statewide children's-choice program; students vote, since 1977)](https://njla.org/garden-state-childrens-book-award)

### Great Lakes Great Books Award (Michigan Reading Association)

- **recommended** · 4th grade · Michigan — [source: Michigan Reading Association — Great Lakes Great Books Award (student-choice, grade-band shortlists; annual, since 1989). Winner/honor/nominee rolls Grades 4-5, 6-8, 9-12.](https://michiganreading.org/Great-Lakes-Great-Books)
- **recommended** · 5th grade · Michigan — [source: Michigan Reading Association — Great Lakes Great Books Award (student-choice, grade-band shortlists; annual, since 1989). Winner/honor/nominee rolls Grades 4-5, 6-8, 9-12.](https://michiganreading.org/Great-Lakes-Great-Books)
- **recommended** · 6th grade · Michigan — [source: Michigan Reading Association — Great Lakes Great Books Award (student-choice, grade-band shortlists; annual, since 1989). Winner/honor/nominee rolls Grades 4-5, 6-8, 9-12.](https://michiganreading.org/Great-Lakes-Great-Books)
- **recommended** · 7th grade · Michigan — [source: Michigan Reading Association — Great Lakes Great Books Award (student-choice, grade-band shortlists; annual, since 1989). Winner/honor/nominee rolls Grades 4-5, 6-8, 9-12.](https://michiganreading.org/Great-Lakes-Great-Books)

### Great Stone Face Book Award

- **recommended** · 4th grade · New Hampshire — [source: Children's Librarians of New Hampshire / NH Library Association — Great Stone Face Book Award (student-choice, grades 4-6; 20 nominees/year, annual since 1980). Winner + nominee rolls via the LibraryThing award/757 mirror of the official sponsor records.](https://www.librarything.com/award/757/Great-Stone-Face-Book-Award)
- **recommended** · 5th grade · New Hampshire — [source: Children's Librarians of New Hampshire / NH Library Association — Great Stone Face Book Award (student-choice, grades 4-6; 20 nominees/year, annual since 1980). Winner + nominee rolls via the LibraryThing award/757 mirror of the official sponsor records.](https://www.librarything.com/award/757/Great-Stone-Face-Book-Award)
- **recommended** · 6th grade · New Hampshire — [source: Children's Librarians of New Hampshire / NH Library Association — Great Stone Face Book Award (student-choice, grades 4-6; 20 nominees/year, annual since 1980). Winner + nominee rolls via the LibraryThing award/757 mirror of the official sponsor records.](https://www.librarything.com/award/757/Great-Stone-Face-Book-Award)
- **recommended** · 7th grade · New Hampshire — [source: Children's Librarians of New Hampshire / NH Library Association — Great Stone Face Book Award (student-choice, grades 4-6; 20 nominees/year, annual since 1980). Winner + nominee rolls via the LibraryThing award/757 mirror of the official sponsor records.](https://www.librarything.com/award/757/Great-Stone-Face-Book-Award)

### Schneider Family Book Award

- **recommended** · 4th grade — [source: Schneider Family Book Award winners (American Library Association), via Wikipedia — 2016 Schneider Family Book Award](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schneider_Family_Book_Award)
- **recommended** · 5th grade — [source: Schneider Family Book Award winners (American Library Association), via Wikipedia — 2016 Schneider Family Book Award](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schneider_Family_Book_Award)
- **recommended** · 6th grade — [source: Schneider Family Book Award winners (American Library Association), via Wikipedia — 2016 Schneider Family Book Award](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schneider_Family_Book_Award)
- **recommended** · 7th grade — [source: Schneider Family Book Award winners (American Library Association), via Wikipedia — 2016 Schneider Family Book Award](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schneider_Family_Book_Award)

### William Allen White Children's Book Award

- **recommended** · 3rd grade · Kansas — [source: William Allen White Children's Book Award winners (Emporia State University), via Wikipedia — 2018](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Allen_White_Children%27s_Book_Award)
- **recommended** · 4th grade · Kansas — [source: William Allen White Children's Book Award winners (Emporia State University), via Wikipedia — 2018](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Allen_White_Children%27s_Book_Award)
- **recommended** · 5th grade · Kansas — [source: William Allen White Children's Book Award winners (Emporia State University), via Wikipedia — 2018](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Allen_White_Children%27s_Book_Award)

### William Allen White Children's Book Award

- **recommended** · 4th grade · Kansas — [source: William Allen White Children's Book Award (Emporia State University) — Kansas's statewide children's-choice program (est. 1952; students read the annual nominees and vote). Winner list 1953-2025 per the William Allen White Award record.](https://wawbookaward.org/)
- **recommended** · 5th grade · Kansas — [source: William Allen White Children's Book Award (Emporia State University) — Kansas's statewide children's-choice program (est. 1952; students read the annual nominees and vote). Winner list 1953-2025 per the William Allen White Award record.](https://wawbookaward.org/)
- **recommended** · 6th grade · Kansas — [source: William Allen White Children's Book Award (Emporia State University) — Kansas's statewide children's-choice program (est. 1952; students read the annual nominees and vote). Winner list 1953-2025 per the William Allen White Award record.](https://wawbookaward.org/)
- **recommended** · 7th grade · Kansas — [source: William Allen White Children's Book Award (Emporia State University) — Kansas's statewide children's-choice program (est. 1952; students read the annual nominees and vote). Winner list 1953-2025 per the William Allen White Award record.](https://wawbookaward.org/)

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