Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt

Someone once said that "if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid."

Ally Nickerson believes that she is stupid. Aside from her artistic talent, she just can't seem to do anything right in school. As she moves from school to school, she learns to hide this from her teachers by misbehaving and misdirecting her teachers' attention. Everyone seems to believe her act that she is a troublemaker with nothing to give until she lands in Mr. Daniels' 6th grade class. Mr. Daniels sees something in Ally that she had stopped daring to believe was there. With patience and encouragement, he helps her to realize that she is far from stupid and instead learns differently from her classmates.

As Ally moves from invisible to invincible, she starts to see others in a new light -- that her beloved brother struggles in the same way she does, that the meanest girl in her class doesn't lead the charmed life that she pretends.

This is another great book from the author of One for the Murphys ... and if you haven't read that one, you should! Click here for Mrs. Corbett's review of One for the Murphys.