Fish in a Tree: Chapter 14 Summary & Analysis

On Friday afternoon, Mr. Daniels announces a challenge. The class will split into three groups and each will receive a shoebox filled with a mystery object, and they must guess what the object is without opening the box. Everyone looks excited. Ally is put in a group with Jessica, Max, Oliver, and Suki. Ally considers asking to go to the nurse when she sees all of Jessica's friendship bracelets. Oliver grabs their box and shakes it. Max tries to take the box, and Suki surprisingly says that with the time limits they have, they each get two minutes with the box.

Max shakes the box and says the object is heavy. Oliver shouts that it might be a kangaroo and  Jessicagives him a disgusted look that makes him shrink. When Ally gets the box, she discovers that the object rolls. She suggests a baseball and surprisingly, Jessica agrees. However, Ally then discovers that the ball bounces. She asks Max if a baseball would bounce, and they amend their answer.

The second box contains an item that slides, not rolls. Ally feels as though she can almost see it and is surprised when Oliver tells her she's good at this. She even forgets to be nervous, since she's performing just as well as her classmates. The third box seems like an oversized marker, and Mr. Daniels stays to observe Ally's group with the fourth box. Jessica compliments Max as he turns the box around, and Oliver guesses the box contains a quarter as though he wants nothing more than to be right. Jessica looks incensed as Oliver hands the box to Ally, saying that she's the best.

Mr. Daniels tries to get Ally's wandering attention and she explains that she sometimes forgets to talk. She rolls the box around and finally says that whatever's in the box only hits two sides. Ally shakes it some more and then asks if the object is taped or tied in the box. Mr. Daniels laughs and then says that no one has ever figured this box out. He opens it to reveal two glue sticks tied together, with the strings taped to two sides of the box. He gives Ally her first high-five from a teacher.