An American Girl : McKenna Shoots for the Stars - wikipedia An American Girl : McKenna Shoots for the Stars An American Girl : McKenna Shoots for the Stars Directed by Vince Marcello Screenplay by Jessica O'Toole Amy Rardin Based on McKenna by Mary Casanova Starring Jade Pettyjohn Ysa Penarejo Nia Vardalos Ian Ziering Cathy Rigby Kerris Dorsey George Chiang Music by Timothy Michael Wynn Production company Universal Studios Distributed by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment Release date July 3, 2012 ( 2012 - 07 - 03 ) Running time 82 minutes Country United States Language English An American Girl : McKenna Shoots for the Stars ( released in PAL territories as American Girl : Shooting for the Stars ) is a 2012 American family - drama film starring actress Jade Pettyjohn, Ysa Penarejo, Cathy Rigby, Nia Vardalos, and Ian Ziering. This film is based on the McKenna books in the American Girl series written by Mary Casanova. The film is also the second in the series to feature a Girl of the Year character, the first being Chrissa Stands Strong, and is the sixth film in the American Girl series overall. The film revolves around the life of McKenna Brooks, as she struggles to balance her time at school and in her career as a gymnast. The screenplay was written by Jessica O'Toole and Amy Rardin. The movie was directed by Vince Marcello. A free screening of the film was held at the Tysons Corner Marriott on July 21, 2012, as part of a promotional package by American Girl and Marriott. Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Television release 4 Home video release 5 Production 6 References 7 External links Plot In the Shooting Star gym. McKenna Brooks is practicing her back handspring on the beam. Coach Isabelle Manning tells McKenna that the move she 's doing is too advanced. McKenna tries to protest, but Coach Isabelle tells McKenna that she 's not ready for that move yet. The coach tells her to just stretch. McKenna 's dream is to go to the olympics however her coach tells her that she needs to focus on the smaller things for now. As McKenna 's feeling depressed, her best friend Toulane Thomas comes over and tells McKenna she was great. She then gets on about how the two of them will get into the 2016 Summer Olympics. Toulane explains that she 'll be on the podium with her gold, and McKenna next to her with her silver. McKenna tells her that she 'll get a gold instead. The girls get back to gymnastics until McKenna 's grandma comes into the gym with McKenna 's younger twin sisters, Maisey and Mara. The four of them leave the gym. At home, McKenna, Maisey, Mara, Mr. and Mrs. Brooks are at the table and talking about Mrs. Brooks ' business, and how her guitarist did n't show up on his first day. Mr. Brooks tries to convince Mrs. Brooks to let his old rock band play at her coffee shop. Mr. Brooks starts singing one of his songs. Then, Mrs. Brooks tells Maisey and Mara to go to their room, while she and Mr. Brooks talk to McKenna. When the twins leave, McKenna thinks it 's about her accidentally feeding the class pet. Mr. and Mrs. Brooks explain that Mr. Wu e-mailed them and said that McKenna 's grades are slipping. Mr. Wu is concerned about McKenna 's grades and he recommended that she get a reading tutor from the middle school. McKenna 's parents believe that she 's spending too much time on gymnastics and not enough time on school. McKenna refuses and promises to bring her grades up as there 's going to be a science quiz the next day. She starts to read the science book, but does n't understand it and quits. The next day at school McKenna is desperate to improve her grades and ends up cheating off of Sierra 's paper. McKenna gets caught by Mr. Wu. Mr. Wu gives McKenna a zero on her test and tells Mr. and Mrs. Brooks. As soon as her parents find out, McKenna 's grounded and they tell her that unless she gets a tutor, she 'll have to quit gymnastics. In an effort to continue gymnastics McKenna agrees to get a tutor. McKenna reluctantly meets Josie Myers at the school 's library. When McKenna sees Sierra, she tries to hide. Josie does n't understand this. After Sierra leaves, Josie tries to tutor McKenna. McKenna gets angry when she finds out Josie wants her to read `` baby books ''. She storms out of the library and asks Mr. Wu to find her a new tutor. She tries three different tutors who wo n't work for her. McKenna is soon forced to go back to Josie. At the presentation run, the Shooting Stars gymnastics team perform for the parents. When McKenna goes up, she does everything perfectly. She comes to the very end of her practice and decides to disobey the coach by doing the back handspring. McKenna falls and breaks her ankle. When McKenna comes home, she is very angry, as her parents say that the accident will allow her to focus on school now instead of gymnastics. McKenna yells at them saying they must be happy she broke her ankle as she would have nothing to do, but study, and hobbles into her room. She tears down most of her posters about the Olympics, and cries. The next day, McKenna comes to school, and Mr. Wu tells McKenna that he 's sorry about her accident. McKenna keeps meeting with Josie, and is soon found out by Toulane. Toulane is very upset that McKenna lied to her. McKenna still goes on a camping trip with Josie. Afterwards, Josie invites McKenna to go to a horse riding place for kids with disabilities, as Josie is going to ride a horse. McKenna first agrees, but then remembers she gets her cast off the same day. Josie is very upset that McKenna ca n't go. Soon, McKenna realizes that she should go and does. There, she is surprised to see Toulane. Toulane says that McKenna showed Josie their secret handshake on their camping trip. Toulane and McKenna have a talk and make up with McKenna 's apology. In the end, McKenna 's grades improve. Toulane has a talk with her mother, and is allowed to do rhythmic gymnastics. Sierra takes Toulane 's place on the team with McKenna. McKenna makes the regional competitive team, and did well during her presentation at school. Cast Jade Pettyjohn : McKenna Brooks ( Kathryn White was Jade 's gymnast double ) Ysa Penarejo : Toulane Thomas Kally Berard : Sierra Kuchinko Kerris Dorsey : Josefina `` Josie '' Myers Ian Ziering : Mr. Brooks Nia Vardalos : Mrs. Brooks Talia Pura : Grandma Brooks Will Woytowich : Bob Paula Rivera : Mrs. Thomas George Chiang : Mr. Wu Aisha Alfa : Gymnastics Competition Announcer Abbey Thickson : Impatient Female Tutor Emma Leipsic : Megan Murphy Rosie : Snowflake the horse Cathy Rigby : Coach Isabelle Manning Kadence Kendall Roach : Maisey Brooks Paiten Raine Roach : Mara Brooks Television release The film aired on NBC on July 14, 2012. Home video release The movie was released on DVD and Blu - Ray on July 3, 2012. The film was initially only available at American Girl and Wal - Mart, but was eventually released in PAL territories as American Girl : Shooting for the Stars. Production An American Girl : McKenna Shoots for the Stars was filmed in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. References ^ Jump up to : `` Apple - iTunes - Download An American Girl : McKenna Shoots for the Stars ''. Apple Inc. Retrieved 3 August 2012. ^ Jump up to : `` AMERICAN GIRL - SHOOTING FOR THE STARS ''. British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved 29 March 2015. Jump up ^ `` Jade Pettyjohn : A Real Life American Girl ''. About.com. Retrieved August 3, 2012. Jump up ^ `` Exclusive : Ysa Penarejo Talks `` McKenna Shoots for the Stars '' and New Music ``. Clevver TV. Archived from the original on January 2, 2013. Retrieved August 3, 2012. ^ Jump up to : `` Young gymnast conquers difficulties in ' McKenna Shoots for the Stars ' ''. Detroit News. Retrieved August 3, 2012. Jump up ^ `` EXCLUSIVE : Nia Vardalos Talks An American Girl : McKenna Shoots for the Stars Blu - ray - MovieWeb.com ''. MovieWeb. Retrieved August 3, 2012. Jump up ^ `` Ian Ziering joins Nia Vardalos and Jade Pettyjohn in untitled American Girl Project - IMDb.com ''. IMDb. Retrieved June 13, 2013. Jump up ^ `` American Girl Fans Can See the New McKenna Movie, Stay the Night atTysons Corner Marriott - MarketWatch ''. MarketWatch. Retrieved August 3, 2012. Jump up ^ Stockly, Ed. `` Saturday 's TV Highlights : ' The Firm ' on NBC - latimes.com ''. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 3 August 2012. Jump up ^ `` American Girl : Shooting for the Stars ( DVD ) ( 2012 ) ''. Amazon.com. Retrieved 8 April 2015. External links An American Girl : McKenna Shoots for the Stars on IMDb An American Girl : McKenna Shoots for the Stars at Rotten Tomatoes American Girl Films Samantha : An American Girl Holiday Felicity : An American Girl Adventure Molly : An American Girl on the Home Front Kit Kittredge : An American Girl ( Soundtrack ) Chrissa Stands Strong McKenna Shoots for the Stars Saige Paints the Sky Isabelle Dances Into the Spotlight Grace Stirs Up Success Melody 1963 : Love Has to Win Maryellen 1955 : Extraordinary Christmas Authors Megan McDonald Connie Porter Valerie Tripp Laurence Yep Video games The American Girls Premiere Other Book series Bitty Baby Girls of Many Lands Götz Characters ( Kit Kittredge ) Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=An_American_Girl:_McKenna_Shoots_for_the_Stars&oldid=832141240 '' Categories : 2012 films English - language films 2012 television films American films American Girl Films based on American novels American children 's films Gymnastics films Films about Olympic gymnastics Films shot in Winnipeg Universal Pictures direct - to - video films Hidden categories : All articles with dead external links Articles with dead external links from July 2017 Articles with permanently dead external links All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from December 2014 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Français Edit links This page was last edited on 24 March 2018, at 02 : 07. 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Question: who played mckenna in mckenna shoots for the stars
Answer: Jade Pettyjohn