“Spelling it Out” piqued my interest because I was the in-charge of NorthLight’s Spelling Bee for three years, so the thought of reading about Ben’s preparation for the Scripps National Spelling Bee appealed to me.

I didn’t expect Margaret Finnegan to write such a layered story. She wrote several sub-stories and weaved them nicely into a cohesive summer journey on the part of Ben. Not only did Ben learn how to manage his cruel coach named Roger, but he also met a kindred spirit in a competitor named Asha Krishnakumar.

That was not all.

Ben discovered that his grandmother, Nan, was suffering from dementia.

I’m just recounting the things that happened to him, but it was his emotional journey that held me spellbound. The thought of whether he was man enough, the realisation that he could hold on to his power and not submit to Roger’s unpredictable mood swings, the guilt for not being helpful enough to his grandmother, and more. They kept me turning over the page until I finished it, utterly breathless and satisfied.

And in a sheer act of coincidence, the sixth graders are reading something similar for their Stellar Unit. Have already forwarded them one page and may just read them another page.