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of working with me. Is that understood?”
    “Yeah,” she said after a pause. “Whatever.”
    “Whatever,” he said, mimicking her, not looking pleased. He waved a hand toward the sidewalk. “You can leave now.”
    Akeelah stared at him and began tapping her foot nervously. “’Scuse me?”
    “I said you can leave.”
    “How come? I just got here.”
    “I don’t have the time or the patience for sullen, insolent children. Life is too short.”
    He turned away and resumed working on his garden.
    “Sullen?” Akeelah said, her voice throbbing with indignation. “Insolent? I ain’t—I mean, I’m not —sullen or insolent. It’s just the first thing you do is start doggin’ on my—criticizing the way I speak. I thought this was about spelling words. Sounds more like a personality makeover.”
    He kept working, not bothering to look up or acknowledge her.
    “Hel lo? Dr. Larabee?” When he did not respond, she said, “Well, okay. That’s fine. I’m outta here.” She turned
to leave but then stopped before going out the gate. “You know what? When I put my mind to it I can memorize anything. And you know something else? I don’t need help from a dictatorial, truculent, supercilious … gardener . Sorry to be so insolent.”
    She marched down the path and out the gate, slamming it behind her.
    Dr. Larabee looked up and slowly nodded his head. “Not bad, Akeelah,” he muttered under his breath. “I’m impressed.”

    That night, bursting with a new determination fueled by Dr. Larabee’s indifference, Akeelah pored over the Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary. Tanya, wearing a nurse’s uniform with white shoes and stockings, knocked lightly on her door.
    “That you, Mama?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Come on in.”
    Tanya stood framed in the door, concern etched on her face.
    “Baby, why you still up?”
    “Gotta learn more words,” Akeelah said, her voice cracking with exhaustion. She let out a deep sigh. “You gonna come see me in the District Bee this Saturday?”
    “It’s at your school?”
    Akeelah shook her head and grinned. “Nah. We’re movin’ up in the world. It’s in Beverly Hills.”

    Tanya frowned and began tapping her foot, a habit Akeelah had unconsciously picked up from her.
    “Beverly Hills?” Her daughter had vexed her, puzzled her, and occasionally delighted her and made her very proud from the time she was no more than a tot. Of her four children, Akeelah was the one she understood the least.
    Tanya seemed to struggle with what to say next. “Look, you got other homework. You know you’re way behind on things. I don’t want you spendin’ all your time on this game.”
    Akeelah reluctantly looked up from her computer. “It ain’t a game,” she said. “It’s serious. So you gonna come see me in it?”
    “Baby, you know I work at the hospital Saturdays. Maybe Kiana can go with you.”
    Akeelah let out an exasperated breath. “I guess that’s okay if she don’t bring that whiny baby with her.”
    “That baby happens to be your niece.”
    “I know what she is. I just know she’ll start bawling when I’m in the middle of a word. That’s the last thing I need. I’m already scared out of my mind.”

Five
    Early Saturday morning, Kiana brought her screaming baby out of the house and past Akeelah, who rolled her eyes to the heavens. Mr. Welch’s car, washed and waxed for the occasion, was idling by the curb.
    “Come on, girls,” he called out. “We’re going to be late.”
    They piled in the car. As he roared away from the curb, around the corner, tires squealing, Akeelah said quietly, “I don’t think we’re gonna be late, Mr. Welch. Either on time or dead.”
    “I’m an excellent driver. Don’t worry.”
    “Well, we’re all prayin’ you are.”
    When they arrived at Beverly Hills High (ten minutes early, Mr. Welch announced proudly), more than a hundred middle school students and their parents were crammed into the auditorium—a spacious and spotlessly