Eleven year-old Akeelah Anderson's life is not
easy: her father is dead, her mom ignores her, her
brother runs with the local gangbangers. She's
smart, but her environment threatens to strangle
her aspirations. Responding to a threat by her
school's principal, Akeelah participates in a
spelling bee to avoid detention for her many
absences. Much to her surprise and embarrassment,
she wins. Her principal asks her to seek coaching
from an English professor named Dr. Larabee for
the more prestigious regional bee. As the
possibility of making it all the way to the
Scripps National Spelling Bee looms, Akeelah could
provide her community with someone to rally around
and be proud ofbut only if she can overcome
her insecurities and her distracting home life.
She also must get past Dr. Larabee's demons, and a
field of more experienced and privileged fellow
spellers.
Languages: | English, French |
Country: | CAN |
Number of discs: | 1 |