Akeelah and the Bee Book

I remember watching this movie in ABC Channel (I think), when I was in USA. It was a very motivating and uplifting story of a young black girl, winning big overcoming her trepidation and emotional struggles along her way. I did not know that it had a novel version and I normally don't read the novel after watching any movie (It just spoils the whole experience, in my opinion). For instance, "The DaVinci Code" was a better novel than a movie. Then there is Julie and Julia movie which was far better than the novel, "Julie & Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen". But it was interesting when I learnt that this novel was the screen play adaptation of the movie. The author has done full justice. Since I had already watched the movie, Keke Palmer and Laurence Fishburne, enacted the whole novel in my head. It was Dough Atchinson's (Film Director) 10 years work into this film and it has paid off well.

The story is about a 11 years old Akeelah Anderson, who is smart, brilliant, yet is scared to stand out and make a difference. She is scared because that would naturally make her the punching bag of her school and make her do other's home work. She knows well to blend in and never make that mistake. But her teachers find her gift and make her participate in the Scribbs National Spelling Bee contest. She is at first scared and reluctant, but she takes up the challenge just to avoid summer school. She trains hard under the guidance of the English Professor Joshua Larabee. He teaches her how to understand and appreciate the language and its words. He makes her understand the origin, the meaning, its suffixes and prefixes rather than just memorize each and every word like a machine. The two of them form a very friendly bond, and see their lost father and child in each other. Akeelah makes huge progress and goes all the way till the finals. She makes a lot of friends on the way, but she also loses her best friend who supported her even before the whole world. In the meanwhile she also has one tough competitor Dylan Watanabe who has come second in the nationals for two years in a row. She detest and despise him and they hold contempt for each other.

At one stage, Dr Larabee backs out from his coaching, leaving Akeelah to do the competition on her own. Akeelah is shaken and taken aback emotionally. She could not understand Dr.Larabee's decision but tries and prepares for the contest. In one eventful meeting between the coach and the student, they start to understand each other's feelings and emotionally warm up to each other.

Akeelah and Dylan at one stage understand the true meaning of a competition and do something so beautiful and mature that it goes to make history. It is a very beautiful story encouraging children to use their gifts, prove their talents in spite of the many hurdles they may come to face. Read the story to find out what happened in the finals of the competition; it was quite interesting. I have to quote a beautiful quote from the book which says the essence of the book.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. Fear diminished you, and it diminished you because it made you face your shortcomings. And yet we ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be those things? Your playing small doesn't serve the world. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give others permission to do the same