| An American Girl: Chrissa Stands Strong |
|
|---|---|
| Directed by | Martha Coolidge |
| Screenplay by | Christine Coyle Johnson Julie Prendiville Roux |
| Based on | Chrissa by Mary Casanova |
| Starring | Sammi Hanratty Austin Thomas Kaitlyn Dever Adair Tishler Ariela Barer Shelby Harmon |
| Release date(s) | January 5, 2009 |
| Running time | 91 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
An American Girl: Chrissa Stands Strong is the fifth film in the American Girl series, starring actress and singer Sammi Hanratty. It is based on the Chrissa books in the American Girl range written by [Mary Casanova].
The screenplay was written by Christine Coyle Johnson and Julie Prendiville Roux. The movie was directed by Martha Coolidge. It won a 2009 Gold Award from National Parenting Publications (NAPPA)
Contents |
Chrissa Maxwell (Sammi Hanratty) and her family move to the fictional town of Edgewater, Minnesota from Iowa in order to be closer to Chrissa's "Nana" after their grandfather died. She starts school on the day before Valentine's Day but her efforts to make new friends are stalled by the Queen Bees (also known as the Mean Bees), a clique of three girls who rule the grade by intimidation. Their leader, Tara James, taunts Chrissa and convinces fellow Bee Sonali Matthews to steal Chrissa's Valentines. Sonali confesses to Chrissa that Tara made her take the Valentines and tells her she got grounded for a week.
Chrissa trys to befriend Gwen Thompson, a quiet, lonely, and unpopular girl who is also bullied by the Bees. Although Gwen is shy at first, the girls gradually become friends. At a fundraiser for the local homeless shelter, Chrissa finds out that Gwen is homeless. Chrissa swears that she won't tell anyone that she's homeless. Meanwhile, Sonali is starting to be friendlier with Chrissa but is still more loyal to Tara. Sonali goes over to Chrissa's house (without telling Tara) while they are studying Sonali's cell phone rings, and she tells Chrissa she has relatives over, but it was really Tara wanting her to come over. Tara realizes that Sonali and Chrissa are becoming friends, she tells her that if she doesn't stop being friends with Chrissa she would be kicked out the club, but Sonali say's she doesn't care if she's in the club or not.
The Bees eavesdrop on Gwen and Chrissa and follow them into the restroom while Chrissa is trying to cut Gwen's bangs. Tara convinces Gwen to let her cut them by Jadyn saying Tara's mom works in a salon, then "accidentally" chops Gwen's bangs off, noting: "Now you really look like a homeless person." Gwen leaves the restroom sobbing then is abbsent from school for some days and the other four girls are sent to the principal's office.The principal tells the girls that Gwen is afraid to come back to school. Tara starts to say that Chrissa told her that Gwen was a homeless person but Sonali tells the truth, which gets Tara suspended for three days while she and Jadyn are suspended for just a day. The following day Sonali apologizes to Gwen about all the mean things she has done to her then Jadydon says: You know Tara is going to get really mad. But Sonali with self -confidence replies : You know what Jadyn I don't care and she becomes friends with Chrissa and Gwen.
After the incident, the bullying gets more intense. In the girls' locker room there are flyers with Chrissa's face on a llama's body saying "Chrissa the Loser Llama Girl" and realizes it was Tara because she notes: Gee Chrissa I guess nobody likes you. Then Chrissa finds a message on the swim team message board and realizes that it was Tara who put up "Ask Chrissa about her contagious skin disease. Should she really be swimming in the same water as the rest of us?". Soon, her older brother Tyler ends up hitting his head, but doesn't get a concussion (in the book, he did), because Tara told him that he couldn't do a dive called "the super corkscrew" and only she could do it. Chrissa takes the blame and quits the swim team. During his recovery, Tyler realizes that the real reason that his sister quit is because she didn't want to be around Tara. Following this incident, Chrissa gets advice from her art teacher to tell her parents about the bullying.
During the big swim meet, Chrissa realizes that she and Tara have to work together if they want to win the relay. Although Tara is reluctant, Chrissa assures her that though they may not be friends, they can still work together to win. Their team work earns them their victory, and they reconcile and hug.
The final scene in the movie is "the big fourth grade project" about bullying. Each character makes a short speech about their idea of ending bullying and Tara admits that she has no reason to bully other people saying and choosing the word accept that no one is better or worse than anyone else and that we have all the same problems thanking her mother , The four other words are courage chosen by Sonali saying that it takes courage to stop being a bully forgive by Gwen noting once you forgive you can move forward and strength by Chrissa noting whatever happens around you it is important to be strong inside and to be true to yourself. The film ends on a summer scene where Chrissa, Sonali, and Gwen going to Lake Chandler to swim with Chrissa's old friend, Amanda, from Iowa.
|
|||||||||||
|
|||||||||||