Fish In A Tree by Lynda Hunt shows even if you have disadvantages you should not be judged by them.  Ally is a dyslexic child. But when Mr. Daniels, the newest teacher, comes along he helps her to learn to read and write.

      Ally is tired of hearing herself being called dumb, loser, or freak. And she has no friends. But that is not true anymore when she meets Keisha. Keisha sticks up for Ally and then the two soon meet Albert. Then one day they see Albert is covered with bruises and has a black eye. He spills out explaining how the mean boys bully him every day. Keisha is determined to put a stop to it and she does.

        The next day the class went on a trip to a museum. Shay rudely drew an offensive picture of Ally. Ally ran out the door crying. Later, it was resolved when Mr. Daniel stepped in but the two still loathed each other.

         When class elections started there were only two candidates: Shay and Ally. Ally was well supported for the election but it would still be a tough race. As the votes were counted Ally anxiously waited for the final vote to be counted. Ally had won!

          Later that day the students had a project they had to think of something they would want a limitless amount of. Albert said antibiotics so he could give it to anyone in need of them. Oliver said Elmers glue so he could apply it to his hands then later peel it off. And Shay said money so she could endlessly buy whatever she wanted. They also had another project they had a riddle: You are at a river. With you are a Chicken, Bag of Grain, and a Wolf. You have to cross the river in your canoe but can only take one with you at a time. You can’t leave the chicken with the grain. He’ll eat it. You can’t leave the wolf with the chicken. He’ll eat it. How do you get everything over and intact? Ally was the first to finish the puzzle. This shows you should not criticize someone because they cannot read or write. Later Mr. Daniels offers Ally lessons in reading and writing she agrees. In a few weeks, she is able to read and write like the other students.

     Fish in a tree shows many things such as you shouldn’t be judged by some of your abilities. Ally has never learned to read but she is still very smart. She has the ability to trick many smart people. Also, she can keep her dyslexia a secret. Ally may be dyslexic but that will never stop her from being smart.

      “All Four Stars” is about how young Gladys Gatsby becomes a popular food critic for the New York Times Newspaper. It all started with a horrible creme-brulee accident that revealed her secret life in the kitchen.

       When a writing contest in school starts Gladys enters her writing in the form of a letter. It is later mistaken for an application to be a food critic.

     Gladys gets accepted and is asked to send samples from her tasting career. Gladys panics because where she lives in East Dumpford there are only fast food restaurants and her parents never cook. But she is able to make some reviews.

    Later she is requested to make a review for Classy Cakes a popular and expensive dessert restaurant. She knows her father will not take her so she ends up going to her archenemy: Charissa. Charissa’s birthday is close by Classy Cakes so she can sneak out and go to Classy Cakes. But it’s going to be hard to be invited. So later Gladys goes over to the neighbors and asks if she can get help to make a treat for Charissa

    The next day Charissa ends up loving the treat. For the next few days, Charissa loves all the exotic treats Gladys brings for her, walnut brownies, Malaysian peanut pancake, carrot halwa, and bluebarb crumble. It is finally the moment of truth…. Gladys gets invited! But after Gladys sneaks out she realizes that she has no reservation or money. She leaves Classy Cakes with her heart in her shoes. Gladys later realizes that Charissa has made her own arrangements at Classy Cakes, so as soon as they go over they end up ordering everything on the menu.

       Gladys is filled with glee after she sends her review to the New York Times. She gets a copy of the New York Times and is proud when she see’s her review first in the food section. Later that day with the mail came a $1000 check from the New York Times.

       Gladys teaches us that even if some things seem impossible you should keep on trying. She probably thought it was impossible to get to Classy Cakes but he kept on trying. And when she heard about the writing contest at school she kept doing it.

    Fever by Laurie Anderson shows how the yellow fever epidemic had hurt and killed many. Mattie Cook and her grandpa and mom of Philadelphia own a coffeehouse with the help of a housemaid named Eliza. They first recognize the fever as  small flu creeping in from the docks. They soon realize it is so much more than that. Unfortunately, Mattie’s mom, Lucille, catches the fever.

   She sends off Mattie and grandfather to go to a different city free of fever. While Eliza will stay and nurse her back to help. But then grandfather gets the fever and they are not allowed to enter the next city. They wander around tiredly in search of food and water. Mattie collapses and is in the hands of the bush hospital. Once Mattie and grandfather regain their strength they set out back to their hometown of Philadelphia.

   Once they arrive they see very little people still live there. Once they find their own house Eliza and mother are nowhere to be found. Days later thieves come and shoot grandfather. He is now dead. After the funeral, Mattie meets a little-abandoned girl and takes care of her. Her name is Nell. One day they see Eliza walking with another woman. Once they tracked her down they meet her brother and two nephews. The two nephews have the fever. Mattie and Eliza go back to the coffeehouse to treat the two kids and Nell because she soon after also got diagnosed. One evening when Mattie falls asleep outside she wakes up to the first frost the three children are dragged outside and they soon recover from the fever because the cold helps kill the Yellow Fever.

    One day when everything is close to being back to normal a carriage pulls to the front door a woman steps out. Lucille. Mattie is overjoyed she race to the women and gathers her up on a tight squeeze. Now everything is back to the way it was.

           The story “ Paint the Wind “ by Pam Ryan is about 11 years old Maya and her great adventure at her aunt Vi’s horse camp. But let’s start at the beginning, Maya’s parents drove into the side of a mountain, unfortunately, they both died when Maya was very young. For most of her life was spent living with her grandmother who didn’t accept anything but perfection. One evening though during breakfast grandmother had a massive stroke.

        Maya moves to Wyoming with her mother’s side grandpa and aunt and uncle. She stays at camp with aunt Vi and her dreaded cousin Payton while grandpa and uncle stay on the ranch. Maya and Payton soon manufacture a horrid relationship. But they end up befriending each other once again going through aunt Vi’s cruelty. Aunt Vi softens when Maya admits she unlatched Wilson, Payton’s horse’s cage. Later Aunt Vi takes both Payton  and Maya to see the horse Artemisia. Artemisia was aunt Vi’s horse that got separated from the rest. But they could never get her.

          One day when Payton and aunt Vi were out Maya saw Artemisia she went over to try and get her. Soon enough there was a landslide and Artemisia and Maya got swept miles away from camp. Will the two make a good team and get safely back to camp? Or will everything go wrong for Maya and Artemisia?

The book Paint the Wind is a good book for many reasons. To begin, it has interesting characters. Payton, Maya, Aunt Vi, and grandmother all have unique personalities. Also, I have mixed feelings about Maya. She can be mean but she can be very likable too. Paint the wind is a good book.