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The film opens in February 2009 when protagonist Chrissa Maxwell (Sammi Hanratty) and her mother, (Annabeth Gish) father, (Timothy Bottoms) and brother Tyler (Austin Thomas) move to the fictional town of Edgewater, Minnesota (from Iowa) in order to be closer to her “Nana” (Michael Learned), their grandmother. Chrissa starts school on the day before Valentine’s Day but her efforts to make new friends are stalled by the “Mean Bees”–a clique of three girls who rule the grade by intimidation. The “Queen Mean Bee”, Tara James (Adair Tishler), taunts Chrissa and convinces fellow Bee Sonali Matthews (Ariela Barer) to steal Chrissa’s valentines (which Sonali later returns and gets punished for a week.).

Chrissa attempts to befriend Gwen (Kaitlyn Dever), a shy and lonely, homeless girl who is also bullied by the Bees. Although Gwen is at first aloof, the girls gradually become friendly. At a fundraiser for the local homeless shelter, Chrissa finds out that Gwen is homeless; Chrissa is sworn to secrecy but the girls become closer as a consequence. Meanwhile, Sonali is starting to be friendlier with Chrissa but is still more loyal to Tara.

The Bees find out Gwen’s secret by eavesdropping and Tara chops off Gwen’s bangs, saying “Now you really look like a homeless person”. Gwen leaves the school for some days and the other four girls are sent to the principal’s office. Sonali tells the truth which causes Tara to be suspended for 3 days but Jadyn Johnson, (Shelby Harmon) another bee, and Sonali,get to only be suspended for a day. the next day, Sonali finally apologizes to Gwen, leaving the Bees for good.

After this, the bullying gets more intense and Tyler ends up hitting his head, but not getting a concussion (In the book he did get a concussion). Chrissa quits the team after this, but then returns for the big meet.

During the meet, Chrissa and Tara have to work together on the relay. Although Tara is reluctant, Chrissa assures her that even though they may not ever be friends, they can still work together to win-which they do and then they hug.

The final scene in the movie is “the big fourth grade project” about bullying. Each character makes a short speech about ending bullying; the movie closes on a summer scene where Chrissa, Sonali, and Gwen are going to lake Chandler to swim with Chrissa’s old friend Amanda from Iowa.

Starring – Sammi Hanratty, Adair Tishler, Ariela Barer, Kaitlyn Dever, Kaylin Stewart
Director – Martha Coolidge
Screenplay – Christine Coyle Johnson and Julie Prendiville Roux based on a novel by Mary Casanova.
Official Site – http://www.americangirl.com/movie/chrissa/
IMDB – http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1340418/
Wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_American_Girl:_Chrissa_Stands_Strong

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