The Year the Music Changed

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It is 1955. Isolated at school by her intelligence and disfigurement, troubled at home by the undercurrents in her parents’ relationship, 14-year-old Achsa McEachern seeks solace in the tunes and rhythms on her radio. After hearing a record by an unknown 20-year-old country singer named Elvis Presley, she fires off a fan letter, telling him she knows he’s going to be a star. Insecure in the world he is entering, passionate about music and burning with a desire to succeed, Elvis answers her and enlists her help in teaching him how to “talk good.” The intimate, touching correspondence that follows chronicles their coming of age as artists and individuals. Able to confide in nobody else, they share with each other their most private dreams and fears. Elvis becomes Achsa’s sounding board as she watches her beautiful, distant mother and her sternly religious father lurch toward tragedy, confronts her own scarred mouth, and faces a shattering loss. The young singer’s responses reveal his fierce, aching innocence in the year before his star burst forth and offers a fascinating glimpse into the grassroots history of rock and roll.