Washoe County Library System

A young boy wants to write a story, just like his big sister. But there's a problem, he tells her. Though he knows his letters, he doesn't know many words. His sister patiently explains, "Every story starts with a single word and every word starts with a single letter. Why don't you start there, with a letter?" So the boy tries. He writes a letter. An easy letter. The letter I. And from that one skinny letter, the story grows, and the little boy discovers...

While walking through a forest of sequoias, a father tells his family the story of the tree's namesake. Sequoyah was a Cherokee man who invented a system of writing for his people. His neighbors feared the symbols he wrote and burned down his home. All of his work was lost, but, still determined, he tried another approach. The Cherokee people finally accepted the written language after Sequoyah taught his six-year-old daughter to read.

An award-winning journalist takes us deep into the Appalachian Mountains where the last truly quiet town of America exists and where its residents live a life free from constant digital connectivity, challenging us to rethink the role of tech in our lives.