This movie resonated with me on so many levels, being a Cambodian immigrant and yes, having won several spelling bees. It was so exciting to see a movie depict a sliver of what my family went through . We did not live with a host family but we had a huge amount of community assistance in our small town so the premise is not far-fetched in the least. Some bits are hammy, but c'mon, it's a 1986 made for TV movie...not Oscar winning but still great in it's own way. There are actually people out there that care enough to help others. And immigrants do live a much harsher life than Americans are used to, so it's not that surprising that she worked so hard to succeed, since failure equaled death in her experience. I applaud the efforts of the families working so hard to blend together and the little girl in the movie for her achievements. I plan on showing this to my own daughter because sometimes she forgets the horror that our people went through and also how resilient and triumphant humans we all can be.