American Bee: The National Spelling Bee and the Culture of Word Nerds; The Lives of Five Top Spellers as They Compete for Glory and

Up front I will confess my prejudice about this book: I'm in it, albeit as a minor historical character. For me the spring months of 1958, 1959, and 1960 were largely taken up by study of word lists, culminating in three shots at the National Spelling Bee. But James Maguire mostly has fresher fish to fry: real time spent with real kids who compete in the modern Bee, lately popularized through television broadcasts on ESPN and ABC. If teenaged kids and their strivings to find identity and accomplishment have any appeal for you, you will enjoy this account. This has been a very good year for spelling bees. ABC put the 2006 final rounds on prime-time TV. The film "Akeelah and the Bee" vividly captured the home-front and on-stage drama of the Bee, taking off where the 2002 documentary "Spellbound" left off. Starbucks promoted the film with an attractive sprinkling of coasters, coffee collars, mugs, and flashcards decorated with foot-long winning words from the national Bee. The musical "25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" continues to play on Broadway and in regional companies. Now James Maguire gives us a broad and entertaining journalistic book on the subject. He profiles five competitors in depth, having befriended them, visited their homes, and hung out with them among family and friends as they balance "normal" schoolwork and activities with the single-minded pursuit of exotic words and etymology. He follows them to the national competition in Washington, which equals any major-league sporting event in risk and suspense. In between episodes, to break the tension, he light-heartedly fills us in on the mottled history of English words and dictionaries, making it clear how and why we reached the hopeless confusion of modern spelling. Maguire is an engaging writer and does complete justice to the Bee experience. He brings out the themes of ambition, concentration, luck, anxiety, coping with failure, and support of family as they play out over the considerable age range of the competitors -- anywhere between 9 and 14. Just as most of us enjoy sports dramas whether or not we ever kicked a ball straight, I believe all of us, former spellers or not, can recognize ourselves in these kids as they set an impossible goal and go for it.

Maguire does a stellar job engaging the reader's interest in the characters. He does more than interview them, he spends time with their families, learns their hopes, dreams and fears, which puts many an adult to shame with their incredible work ethic and study habits. We learn that the kids are not automatons but well-rounded kids who often excel in many subjects. For anyone who has competed in competitions, one can appreciate the drive and loneliness one incurs in working towards a goal. There is definite drama and as an excellent speller, I came away impressed with the kids' abilities and determination. The book is not a narrative, there are interviews with prior champions and a history of the English language included. I wholeheartedly recommend American Bee. -- Jacqueline and Jeremy

Maguire's story of the road to orthography fame is pure delight. While he takes us into the unique personal lives of the youth who strive to win the Scripps National Bee, his writing remains crisp and entertaining. Through exquisite narration, the reader becomes intimately involved in the stories of triumph over hardship, family sacrifice, self determination and a riveting account of the prize at the end. If you are interested in the Scripps competition, or in improving your own vocabulary, or just in a compelling story of the American dream, don't miss this book!

I highly recommend this book. The Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee has become an American institution, and "American Bee" accurately captures the spirit and drama of this annual event. I especially enjoyed reading the profiles of the top spellers and their families. The Bee's ace spellers are fascinating and exceptional individuals -- high-achievers who are both intelligent and determined to succeed. They are America's future. James Maguires offers us a fascinating glimpse into their personalities. Overall it is a light, fun read; my mother, a retired schoolteacher who seldom reads anything but the newspaper, read it from cover to cover in a few days and loved it.

Like Spellbound and Akeelah and the Bee, this book helps get America geared up for the upcoming National Spelling Bee. For some, this is an event they see in passing the week after Memorial Day. But for others, as Maguire notes, this week of competition has been planned for days, weeks, and in some cases, years in advance. The book is divided into sections, examining the Bee from many angles, including participant profiles (past and present), the history of language, and the history of competitive spelling. If you have read "Positively Fifth Street" by James McManus, it is a lot like that with respect to the variety of topics it explores. Obviously, for a Bee enthusiast, the best parts of the book deal with the actual competition. Like Spellbound, Maguire's book traces the steps of hopeful national bee winners for the 2005 competition. One of the advantages, I think, of this book over the movie, is that the book was released very quickly. Spellbound followed the 1999 Bee so when you watched the movie, the kids were yesterday's news. A few of the spellers featured in American Bee will make return appearances this year. Maguire picks five excellent spellers to feature - ranging from the West Coast to East, male and female, young and old (relatively speaking). For anyone who finds that they are sitting on the edge of their seat the Thursday after Memorial Day, this is a good read. For a Bee enthusiast, to which the names Rebecca Sealfon and the Goldstein family mean something, this is a must read.