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Mr. Daniels
Keisha is a new girl at school with whom Ally becomes very close. She's the only black girl and is extremely confident in herself and her abilities. This causes her to challenge Shay regularly and stand up for others, something that Ally admires greatly. She and Ally start to become friends after Mr. Daniels rearranges the seating chart to seat them next to each other. Though their exchanges start off rocky, Keisha is very grateful for Ally's kindness when the latter tries to share her bouquet with Keisha at the holiday concert after Keisha's bouquet is unfairly taken away. A few weeks into their friendship, Keisha joins Ally in accepting Albert into the group. She humors Albert by watching Star Trek (though she insults the special effects) and tries to figure out what the word "Flint" on Albert's shirt might refer to. Keisha continues to have no time for bullies, so she takes issue with Albert when she learns that he doesn't fight back when, nearly every afternoon, a group of bullies beats him up—though in Ally's opinion, Keisha pushes Albert too hard to fight back. When Ally runs for class president, Keisha is one of Ally's biggest supporters. Even more importantly, when Ally experiences situations in which she struggles with her self-esteem, Keisha counsels Ally to take pride in her differences and the things she can do well. She points out that they don't want to be mean like Shay is and that trying to please people who want them to be the same as everyone else is a waste of time. Keisha wants to be a baker when she grows up, so she spends much of her free time baking cupcakes with secret messages inside.
Keisha Quotes in Fish in a Tree
The Fish in a Tree quotes below are all either spoken by Keisha or refer to Keisha. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 26
Quotes
It comes from a place so deep inside, it's like it's coming out of the ground. “I just... I just want to fit in for once. I mean, I really do. Just to be the same as everyone else.”
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Chapter 34
Quotes
“People ask what you want to be when you grow up. I know what kind of grown-up I want to be. But I don't know who I am now.” Albert stretches his legs out. “There are always people ready to tell you who you are, like a nerd or a jerk or a wimp.”
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And I think of words. The power they have. How they can be waved around like a wand—sometimes for good, like how Mr. Daniels uses them. How he makes kids like me and Oliver feel better about ourselves. And how words can also be used for bad. To hurt.
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Chapter 50
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I feel like I'm going to cry. Thinking how Albert has come to school every day with those bruises for all this time. We always asked him what it would take for him to fight back. Turns out it was protecting us.
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Keisha Quotes in Fish in a Tree
The Fish in a Tree quotes below are all either spoken by Keisha or refer to Keisha. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 26
Quotes
It comes from a place so deep inside, it's like it's coming out of the ground. “I just... I just want to fit in for once. I mean, I really do. Just to be the same as everyone else.”
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Chapter 34
Quotes
“People ask what you want to be when you grow up. I know what kind of grown-up I want to be. But I don't know who I am now.” Albert stretches his legs out. “There are always people ready to tell you who you are, like a nerd or a jerk or a wimp.”
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And I think of words. The power they have. How they can be waved around like a wand—sometimes for good, like how Mr. Daniels uses them. How he makes kids like me and Oliver feel better about ourselves. And how words can also be used for bad. To hurt.
Related Characters:
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Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 50
Quotes
I feel like I'm going to cry. Thinking how Albert has come to school every day with those bruises for all this time. We always asked him what it would take for him to fight back. Turns out it was protecting us.
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