Synopsis for
Akeelah and the Bee (2006) More at IMDbPro »

Akeelah Anderson (Keke Palmer) is an 11-year-old girl in south Los Angeles, with a love for words. Spelling words was a way for her to connect to her father who was killed when she was six. Akeelah is a bright student, but she has been skipping class and is barely passing. Akeelah's principal is about to put her in detention when he persuades her to enter the Crenshaw school's spelling bee. Akeelah wins the spelling-bee and now she can go to the state contest. Dr. Larabee (Laurence Fishburne), a college professor and former national spelling-bee contestant, enters the picture. The principal has asked Dr. Larabee to help coach Akeelah. At first, Akeelah is stubborn and hardheaded that she doesn't need any help to win the next spelling-bee. However, Dr. Larabee shows Akeelah that she doesn't know all the words to win. During the summer, Dr. Larabee is a tough taskmaster teaching Akeelah as much as he can. He then gives her 5,000 new words to learn and tells her to do it on her own. With the help of the whole neighborhood, Akeelah learns all the words, and makes it to the national spelling-bee in Washington D.C. Douglas Young (the-movie-guy)