Akeela And The Bee Review

Akeela And The Bee

         Akeela was an eleven year old girl who's father was shot when she was six. She lived with her mother who was a nurse, her two brothers, and a sister who had a child of her own. Her oldest brother was in the Air Force, and her other brother was a high school drop-out. She was a great speller, but would never do her homework, never studied, and often skipped class. She went to Crenshaw Middle School, and was younger than all of the other students because she skipped the second grade.
         Although she was a great speller, she did not want to be a competitive speller because she was afraid of being ridiculed and abused by her fellow classmates. She reluctantly decided to compete in her school spelling bee and won it. Soon after, the principal introduced her to a former college professor named Dr. Laramy. He decided to give her spelling lessons but she was rebellious and did not want to listen to him.
         She studied on her own, without the help of Dr. Laramy, and her principal persuaded her to compete in the Los Angeles school district spelling bee. She met several of her fellow spellers, including a boy named Javier. She got up to the Top 11, but then misspelled a word. A boy was caught cheating so she was given another opportunity. She then made it to the Top 10 out of 139 students. Afterwards, she was not supported at all by her family, and this discouraged her.
         The following week, she decided to sneak away from home and took a bus to Javier's school, Woolen Hall,  to join a spelling study group. She enjoyed it very much. When she got home her mom yelled at her because she was angry that she left without permission. She had just received a letter in the mail saying Akeela was flunking school. Unbeknownst to her mother, she went to Dr. Laramy for spelling lessons.
         A few days later, she sneaked off again. But this time she went to her friend Javier's birthday party. At the party, Javier was showing her around his house and sneakily kissed her on the cheek. An hour or so later, there was a game of Scrabble. Akeela was given the opportunity to show off her spelling skills by almost beating a kid named Dillon who had won the Scripps championship spelling bee for the past few years. Akeela got home without her mom knowing that she had been out.
         When she met with Dr. Laramy, he told her that the trick to learning big words is learning little words. They continued having their lessons for several months. During one particular lesson, Dr. Laramy noticed that Akeela patted her leg with her hand to the beat of the word. This formed an idea in his mind. He explained to her that jump roping may help her study and stay focused on the words.
         After much more practice, Akeela, her principal, and Dr. Laramy went to the USC spelling bee. Akeela was doing very well when her mom came storming in and told Akeela to get off the stage. She obeyed and her mom took her outside. She yelled at her again because she went to the spelling bee with her teachers without getting her permission. When the principal questioned this, Akeela admitted to forging her deceased father's signature. Meanwhile, it was Javier's turn and he was stalling because Akeela was next and if she did not return, she would be disqualified. But finally, her mom agreed to allow her to compete in the spelling bee. Dillon, Javier, and Akeela were in the Top 3 at the end of the spelling bee.
         The next day, the students at Aleeka's school were fanatic about her success. They wanted her autograph and everything! She was even interviewed on live TV! Dr. Laramy watched, but was disappointed to see that she did not give him any credit for helping her study.
         The next day they met and had a big argument. While yelling at Akeela, Dr. Laramy accidentally called Akeela “Denise” and told her he would not be coaching her anymore. This really upset Akeela, for she loved being with him. To make herself feel better, Akeela called her best friend Jordan, who she had been ignoring to study with Javier. Jordan just hung up on Aleeka because she was mad at her. Her mom came in and she asked Akeela what was wrong. Akeela explained everything and then told her mom that she wanted to quit, but her mother convinced her to continue in the spelling bee. Her mom went to talk to Dr. Laramy and they discussed the topic.
          A few days later, Akeela's brother saw Akeela studying while he was on a walk. When his friends drove up beside him, they encouraged him to help his little sister study instead of hanging out with them. The community encouraged her to excel. Akeela got everyone from the mailman to her family to people she met in a fast-food restaurant to help her study.
         After weeks of studying, she went to Dr. Laramy to give him back his jump rope which had the initials “D.L.” on them. He told her that it belonged to his daughter, Denise Laramy. His daughter died at a young age, and after her death his wife left him. Akeela and Dr. Laramy decided to help each other out since they both knew what the death of a loved one felt like. 
         That afternoon, Jordan and Akeela worked things out between them and Akeela invited Jordan to go to Washington, D.C.  for the National Scripps Spelling Bee. She agreed. They rode with Javier on the plane ride and had a great time. Once they were in D.C., they took tours of the area and had a fabulous time. The night before the bee, they were goofing off in Akeela's room, which was acceptable because Dr. Laramy said it was a good idea to take a break of studying. Akeela decided to invite Dillon over to hang out with them. He looked as if he wanted to go but his father told her that that kind of behavior before the most important spelling bee was forbidden. 
         The following morning was the bee and just about everyone in her town was watching Akeela on live TV. She was doing well, until a word stumped her. She kept going over the word in her head, but she could not figure it out. Finally, she pretended she had a jump rope with her and she correctly spelled the word with the beat of the jumping. Unfortunately, Javier misspelled a word, and was out of the competition. But in the end, Akeela and Dillon tied the big championship. This movie shows that if you have love and determination, you can do anything.