<P> At Woodland Hills, Akeelah meets Dylan Chiu, a Chinese American boy who had won second place at the past two national spelling bees . Contemptuous, he asks her to spell "xanthosis". When she starts with a "z", he tells her she needs a coach . At the conclusion of the spelling club meeting, Javier invites Akeelah to his birthday party . At the party, Akeelah nearly beats Dylan in Scrabble . The boy is reprimanded by his father for nearly losing to "a little black girl". After the party, Tanya is depressed over her husband's death and concerned about her daughter's grades and frequent truancy . As she finds out about Akeelah going alone to Woodland Hills, she subsequently forbids Akeelah from participating in the upcoming state bee . To circumvent this prohibition, Akeelah forges her deceased father's signature on the consent form and secretly studies with Dr. Larabee . During the state bee, Tanya comes inside and interrupts her daughter before she can spell her word . Tanya relents after a side discussion with Dr. Larabee and Mr. Welch . Javier protects Akeelah from disqualification by stalling until she can return . Dylan, Javier and Akeelah advance to the Scripps National Spelling Bee . </P> <P> As Christmas approaches, Akeelah goes out to buy Dr. Larabee a present, but when she meets him, he reveals that he is quitting being her coach because she reminds him of his deceased daughter Denise . Instead, he gives Akeelah 5,000 flashcards to study . Without her coach, rejected by her best friend Georgia, and feeling the pressure from her neighborhood residents to make them proud, Akeelah loses her motivation . However, Tanya tells her that if she looked around her, she would realize that she has "50,000 coaches". Akeelah recruits her family members, classmates, teachers, friends, and neighbor Derrick T to prepare in earnest . After reuniting with Dr. Larabee, Akeelah goes to Washington, D.C. with him, along with Tanya, Georgia, Mr. Welch, and Devon, unaware that her coach has paid for four of their tickets . Georgia rekindles her friendship with Akeelah after she invites her . During the competition, Akeelah becomes a crowd favorite . After all the other competitors are eliminated, only Dylan and Akeelah remain . The two finalists are allowed a break, during which Akeelah overhears Dylan's father harshly pressuring him to win . Akeelah attempts to intentionally lose by deliberately misspelling "xanthosis". Dylan, knowing that Akeelah knows this word, intentionally misspells it as well . Dylan tells Akeelah that he wants a fair competition, rejecting his father's obsession to win . The two then proceed to spell every word listed by the judges in the hopes of winning the championship together, with Dylan earning a share of it by correctly spelling "logorrhea", much to his father's delight . Akeelah spells the last word on the list, "pulchritude", and the two are declared co-champions amidst a cheering crowd . </P> <Ul> <Li> Keke Palmer as Akeelah Anderson: </Li> </Ul> <Li> Keke Palmer as Akeelah Anderson: </Li>

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