Fish in a Tree: Chapter 28 Summary & Analysis

As kids leave for lunch, Mr. Daniels calls Ally to his desk. He compliments her on her opinions and answers and says she has wonderful gifts. Ally doesn't understand how he can possibly think this. Then, he asks a series of questions: if reading gives Ally headaches, and if she thinks one word and says another. Ally nervously answers yes to both. When he asks her if letters move, she says that of course they do. This makes Mr. Daniels's eyes widen.

His final question is if Ally knows what chess is and if she knows how to play. Ally knows what it is but doesn't know how to play. Mr. Daniels says that Ally would like it and offers to teach her after school. Ally knows this is a trap of some sort, so she says no, even though she wants to learn. She turns around when Mr. Daniels says he'd excuse her from homework for learning to play and says there's no catch. Ally agrees and shakes Mr. Daniels's hand, happy that she's getting out of homework and that he clearly thought about Ally outside of school, when he didn't have to.