At the beginning of the novel, Bluefish’s eighth-grade protagonist, Travis, cannot read the vast majority of words. He can only decipher his name, along with simple, short words like “the” and “and.” It’s not explained exactly why he can’t read, but there are several possible contributing factors. It’s implied that Travis may have a learning difference because when he looks at a page of text, he sees a jumbled, confusing mess: “Long lines of words tromped across the pages like columns of ants” (92). However, the bigger obstacle is that the methods practiced by Travis’s previous teachers and reading specialists were not effective for him, and school feels like a claustrophobic, prison-like environment where Travis is reprimanded and bullied for being “stupid” and for “not trying.” He’s actually smart and is trying, but he may not be a neurotypical or “normal” student. Travis especially resented being told to “try” by the literacy specialist at his old school because this implied that he wasn’t trying, which meant she really didn’t understand him at all.

Seeing that his teachers and peers have given up on him, Travis responds by giving up on school. When he moves to a new school for eighth grade, none of his teachers seem to know his academic situation or how to help him until his Reading teacher,

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