How I Met The Beatles (And How They Broke My Heart)

Ever wonder what the world would be like today if we had chosen to "Just Say No" to drugs in the 1960s? This 2010 Beatles fiction novel is as pertinent today as it was back then.

“How I Met The Beatles” revisits the British invasion of 1964 and explores the issue of celebrity idol worship. It is the story of a young, innocent ’tween-aged girl named Priscilla Casey, her dream to meet The Beatles, and her journey toward emotional and spiritual maturity.

Hero worship in sports and entertainment is so universal that people of all ages and religious persuasions can identify with it. This multigenerational aspect creates an opportunity for dialog between parents who lived through the tumultuous 1960s, and their children whose lives are still affected by the social and moral upheaval that occurred.

Priscilla leaves her childhood friends in Salinas, California and moves to the family’s thirty-acre homestead. Although settling in to her new country life holds its challenges, they are minuscule compared to the hurdles she faces transitioning into adolescence. This book uses the onslaught of The Beatles, and the concurrent social changes, as a vehicle to explore idol worship and the disillusionment that results. It touches on peer pressure, sibling rivalry, work ethics, handling disappointment, drug abuse, and young love.

It also contains a multicultural element, as Priscilla and her family form friendships with a Hispanic-American family.

Many of Priscilla’s most insightful passages were written by me as a struggling twelve-year-old. This creates an element of authenticity that cannot be reproduced by an adult looking back.