Stella Díaz Has Something to Say

Stella makes a poster for the third-grade spelling bee. She’s proud of how the poster turns out, but very nervous for the spelling bee. Stella and Jenny sit with another girl, Lauren, at lunch. Jessica comes over to them to make fun of them, but Stella and Jenny pretend not to hear her. Jessica gets frustrated and walks away, and Stella is proud of herself. At the spelling bee, Stella and Jenny sit with Anna and Anna’s best friend Isabel. Stella is terrified to go on stage at the spelling bee, but when her name is called, she spells the word “disappear” perfectly. No longer nervous, she advances through a few more rounds and ends up as a semifinalist. Stanley is also a semifinalist, leading Stella to realize for the first time that she and Stanley have more in common than she thought—she had expected him to win the entire contest.

Stella’s mom is so proud of her for doing well at the spelling bee that she decides to celebrate by taking Stella and Nick to the library. On the way there, Stella’s mom talks about Frida Kahlo, a famous Mexican painter. At the library, Stella looks for books on marine life for her school project.