Chapter 3: First Love Summary and Analysis

By 1954, a new kind of music is emerging. Black jazz and rhythm and blues bands are making their mark. Their smaller, stripped-down versions of the big bands allow for improvisation. A radio station is established that plays across the middle-south. Black fans are not the only ones listening. Tina's grandmother always had listened to country and western, but her dad liked the blues. They only had a radio—no phonograph, so they depended completely on the radio for their music. Tina likes the fast music—the faster the better.

Tina is attending high school in Ripley, TN. The school's basketball team is hosting a visiting team from nearby Brownsville, TN. The energetic Tina is a cheerleader. When she sees the Captain of the visiting team, Harry Taylor, it is love at first sight. She has...