Build a movie plot around this: What has caused Lewellen's decline in health? A sexual assault.
Lewellen lives with her stern, religious grandmother, Grannie, who has taken it upon herself to raise the girl, as neither of Lewellen's parents can provide her a stable home. Her father, Lou, loves her and tries to please her, giving her gifts such as Elvis Presley recordings. Although he battles with alcoholism, he tries his best to give Lewellen a stable home. He even tries to provide a motherly figure in Lewellen's life by dating a mysterious girlfriend, Ellen, who promised one night to rescue Lewellen from life in the rural South should the relationship falter. We later learn that Ellen is in fact Lewellen's aunt, her mother's sister.Lewellen is able to maintain her innocence by finding consolation in playing with her best friend Buddy, idling away her last pre-teen summer with typical outdoor rural pastimes such as swimming in the pond and exploring the woods, meeting a new friend, Grasshopper, while spending the summer with her grandparents. Lewellen is enchanted by her idol, Elvis Presley, who is making a homecoming tour in the South. Her town is one of the venue stops. Lewellen finds that singing Elvis' music is a way to channel her trauma into something constructive and creative. Charles (Afemo Omilami) acts as a mentor, imparting wisdom of his snake handler religion to explain this emotional channelling to her in other words, how to create something positive out of something venomous and deadly.Lewellen is challenged by many problems besides living in a "broken home". Ellen leaves one day and breaks Lewellen's heart, burdening her with the responsibility to be a "mother" despite not having one herself. Her father suffers a terrible accident, and is handicapped to the point of infantile retardation, but the thought of Elvis coming to town gives her the resolve to carry on despite this newest of many traumatic circumstances. Buddy tells Lewellen that Wooden's Boy has an Elvis ticket and is willing to give it to her if she does her Elvis dance for him naked. When she finds out the deal, she...