Part 5
Ally’s father is a soldier deployed far from home, and during a video call she proudly shares how she is starting to learn to read. The same struggle runs in the family: her brother Travis, who left school early, is quietly desperate because his boss wants him to read repair manuals for his job, and he cannot — a painful sign that Travis may share Ally’s undiagnosed dyslexia. Working with Ally, Mr. Daniels gives her an exercise that leaves her with a small slip of paper reading, in effect, ‘anything is possible,’ and she keeps it in her pocket like a talisman. But the road is not smooth. One day a substitute teacher, meaning to be kind, announces in front of the whole class that Ally may draw instead of write — singling her out — and Shay pounces, mocking her cruelly. Humiliated and discouraged, Ally nearly quits her after-school sessions altogether. Mr. Daniels, realizing what happened, apologizes and gently reassures her that setbacks are part of learning, not proof of failure. Ally chooses to keep going, and soon after she solves a tricky logic puzzle entirely on her own — hard proof, when she needs it most, that her mind is powerful. Slowly, unevenly, and against real resistance, Ally is beginning to believe in herself.
| Section | What you will practice |
|---|---|
| Vocabulary | Perseverance words: deployed, setback, discourage, persevere, logic… |
| Literary Elements | The family echo, the ‘anything is possible’ motif, and a setback that tests resolve |
| Cross-Curricular | Great minds who learned differently |
| Ch. | What happens |
|---|---|
| Chapters 26–28 | Family and a Slip of Paper — Ally shares her progress with her deployed father; Travis’s struggle with repair manuals echoes her own; she keeps a ‘anything is possible’ note close. |
| Chapters 29–31 | Setback and Proof — a substitute singles Ally out and Shay mocks her; she nearly quits, but Mr. Daniels reassures her, and she then solves a logic puzzle alone — proof of her mind. |
Lynda Mullaly Hunt gives Chapters 26–31 a distinct verbal field, summarized by the heading “Words of Perseverance.” Here deployed is an adjective naming sent away on military duty; the accompanying context makes that sense visible: Ally’s father was deployed overseas. Here setback is a noun naming a problem that slows progress; the accompanying context makes that sense visible: The substitute’s words were a painful setback. Here discourage is a verb naming to take away someone’s confidence; the accompanying context makes that sense visible: The mockery tried to discourage her. Here persevere is a verb naming to keep going despite hardship; the accompanying context makes that sense visible: Ally chose to persevere. Here logic is a noun naming careful, step-by-step reasoning; the accompanying context makes that sense visible: She solved the puzzle with pure logic. These definitions make the part’s setbacks and renewed effort readable as changing connotation.
ⓘ The vocabulary words in this list are selected to help you understand and complete this workbook. Some may not appear verbatim in the original novel.
Part 5 raises a specific threat, answers it through character action, and leaves an altered aftermath. Ally’s father is a soldier deployed far from home, and during a video call she proudly shares how she is starting to learn to read. The same struggle runs in the family: her brother Travis, who left school early, is quietly desperate because his boss wants him to read repair manuals for his job, and he cannot — a painful sign that Travis may share Ally’s undiagnosed dyslexia. Working with Ally, Mr. Daniels gives her an exercise that leaves her with a small slip of paper reading, in effect, ‘anything is possible,’ and she keeps it in her pocket like a talisman. But the road is not smooth. That progression explains how “Falling Down and Getting Up” produces lasting consequence.
- Travis reveals he cannot read the repair manuals.
- A substitute singles Ally out, and Shay mocks her.
- Discouraged, Ally nearly quits her sessions.
- Ally shares her reading progress with her deployed dad.
- Ally solves a logic puzzle alone, proving her mind.
Part 5 layers motif, parallel, and setback so that an ordinary detail carries later significance. Watch the little slip of paper Ally carries in her pocket, its message that anything is possible. It is a motif — a small image the book returns to again and again — and it works like a heartbeat under the story. Every time Ally’s courage falters, the paper is there, a physical reminder in her own hand that the impossible thing (reading) might be possible after all. Hunt ties it back to the ‘Sketchbook of Impossible Things’ from Part 1: what once meant fantasy (flying wheelchairs) is turning into belief (I could learn to read). Keep an eye on this phrase; by the last page it will have traveled from a teacher’s exercise, to Ally’s pocket, to Ally’s own true opinion of herself — and finally to something she can offer someone else. That authorial design makes “‘Anything Is Possible’” a lesson in deliberate irony.
The stakes of Part 5 widen when its choices are examined through great, minds, and learned. As Ally begins to believe in herself, it helps to know that some of history’s most brilliant people learned differently, and many are believed to have had dyslexia or similar differences. The inventor Thomas Edison was called ‘addled’ and pulled from school by a teacher who thought him hopeless; he went on to hold over a thousand patents. Albert Einstein was a late talker who struggled in the rote-memory schooling of his day, yet reimagined the universe. Leonardo da Vinci wrote in mirror-image and left work unfinished, but few minds have ranged so widely. In our own time, dyslexic thinkers have become award-winning film directors, entrepreneurs, architects, and scientists. This context turns Part 5 from a private adventure into a broader question of systems.
Think back over these chapters. A girl beams into a screen and tells her soldier father, oceans away, that she is learning to read — and later watches her grown brother go quiet and ashamed because a stack of repair manuals might as well be written in stone. She keeps a scrap of paper in her pocket like a lucky charm: anything is possible. Then a substitute, trying to be nice, announces Ally’s difference to the whole room, and a mean girl turns it into a weapon, and the scrap of paper suddenly feels like a lie. She almost stops. But a kind teacher says the right thing, and days later a hard puzzle falls apart in her hands — solved, alone — and the paper feels true again.
As Ally starts to believe in herself, history offers her good company. Some of the most creative and accomplished people who ever lived are thought to have had dyslexia or to have learned in strikingly different ways. Thomas Edison, who would go on to hold more than a thousand patents, was called ‘addled’ as a boy and taken out of school by a teacher who judged him hopeless. Albert Einstein was slow to speak as a child and chafed against the memorize-and-repeat schooling of his time, yet he reimagined space, time, and light. Leonardo da Vinci filled his notebooks with mirror-writing and left many projects unfinished, but few human minds have ever ranged so far.
It would be unfair, of course, to promise that everyone with dyslexia will be famous. But the pattern is real and worth understanding. The same brain differences that make reading a struggle often come paired with unusual strengths — seeing patterns others miss, thinking in three dimensions, imagining boldly, and solving problems in unexpected ways. In our own time, dyslexic thinkers have become celebrated film directors, inventors, architects, entrepreneurs, and scientists. The lesson for a reader like Ally is not that struggle guarantees greatness, but something quieter and truer: a mind that reads with difficulty can still be a powerful and original mind. Again and again, people who learned differently have gone on to change the world — which means Ally’s difference is not a ceiling on her future but simply one feature of a mind that may yet do remarkable things.
This writing task is optional and is not part of your auto-graded score. The feedback below checks only the basics — length, spelling, and grammar — not whether your ideas are right or wrong. It is meant for classroom discussion and creative practice, so feel free to use your imagination!
Writing Task — Part 5 “Getting Back Up”
After a humiliating setback, Ally almost quits — but chooses to keep going. Write about a time you faced a setback or embarrassment but decided not to give up. What knocked you down, what made you continue, and what happened? 6–10 sentences. End with what the experience taught you about resilience.
No right or wrong — close the screen and tell someone nearby what happened in this part. Can’t find anyone? Tell yourself out loud. The moment you teach it, you truly understand it.
Part 5 Complete!
You finished Chapters 26–31 of Fish in a Tree.
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Your writing was checked automatically for length, spelling, grammar, and whether you included the key parts of the scene. Scroll back to Part 5 anytime to read your feedback and improve your work.
Independent study guide by Garden Heights. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Lynda Mullaly Hunt. Contains original analysis only; no text from the novel is reproduced. Reference text: This workbook follows Lynda Mullaly Hunt’s classic text (the standard Puffin edition sold worldwide). Revised 2023 UK editions change some wording and may not match the vocabulary studied here.