Fish in a Tree: Chapter 3 Summary & Analysis

Mrs. Silver asks Ally if she has anything to say, but Ally stays silent. Eventually, Mrs. Silver leads Ally to her office. Ally sits, wonders what relaxing at school would be like, and wishes she had her Sketchbook of Impossible Things. There, she draws her mind movies. Mrs. Silver pulls Ally back to reality and reminds her that she's been in the office too much for only having been at school five months and tells Ally that it's up to her to make changes. Ally knows this isn't true, but she can't bring herself to admit her shame and tell the truth.

At Mrs. Silver's prodding, Ally admits that she wasn't trying to be funny and didn't want to hurt Mrs. Hall, but she stops short of telling the truth when she sees how disappointed Mrs. Silver looks. Ally believes she's dumb and beyond help, and after seven schools she knows it's best to be quiet. Mrs. Silver notices Ally's hands balling into fists and asks Ally to say what's wrong so that they can help her. Ally mumbles that nobody can help her.

Mrs. Silver points to a poster with two hands reaching for each other with words underneath and asks Ally to read it. Ally refuses, since she knows it'd take her a long time. She bluffs that she knows what the poster is talking about and wishes she could read when Mrs. Silver suggests she work on it, whatever "it" is.

The bell rings. Mrs. Silver says that Ally has crossed a line and when Mr. Daniels arrives on Monday, Ally needs to avoid negative consequences. Ally thinks this is impossible. As she stands to leave, Ally looks at the poster and again wishes she knew what it said. She races back to Mrs. Hall's classroom to apologize but when she sees the sad look on Mrs. Hall's face, Ally freezes. After a moment, Ally runs away. She misses her bus but feels she deserves to walk home alone.