If she was disrespectful, he showed tough love by declining to help. But if he noticed anything that was holding her back ...

Akeelah Anderson, a bright but shy girl from South Los Angeles, defies expectations by entering the National Spelling Bee, despite ridicule from classmates and her mother's disapproval.

It’s easy to assume that winning a spelling bee is all about studying and memorizing hard words, their definitions, and their language of origin. But because Akeelah was representing her low ...