Petey

Trevor Ladd, an eighth-grade student who is new to Bozeman, Montana, and who quickly develops an intense and profound bond with Petey, is the secondary protagonist in the novel. When he is introduced, Trevor is frustrated with his parents and his life circumstances. Over the past several years Trevor’s family has moved frequently as his parents pursue changing career opportunities. When he meets Petey, Trevor has only been living in Bozeman for three months and has yet to make any friends. After his last move, Trevor had decided that parting from friends every few years is too painful for him, and like Petey he has made the decision not to allow himself to grow close to anyone else so he does not have to suffer the eventual heartache of being forced to say goodbye to them. Trevor meets Petey as a result of an act of heroism on Trevor’s part. Trevor defends Petey from being pummeled by snowballs and is at first reluctant to strike up a friendship with the older man. Initially, Trevor is uncomfortable around the Petey because he is unaccustomed to being around someone whose physical disabilities so thoroughly affect their appearance. Gradually, Trevor becomes interested in Petey and curious about his life, and he quickly overcomes his sense of fear and discomfort as they get to know one another.

Trevor experiences tremendous growth over the course of his brief relationship with Petey. Trevor is introduced as someone who already despises unfairness and injustice before he meets his friend, but he becomes someone who acts to change unfairness and injustice wherever he sees it. Trevor becomes a fierce advocate for Petey, broadening his experiences by bringing him out into the world beyond the nursing home, expanding his social network by introducing him to new friends, reconnecting him with two of the most important people in his life, and working diligently and ceaselessly to acquire the new wheelchair Petey desperately needs. At the end of the novel, Trevor is devastated by his anticipation of Petey’s passing, and he asks if Petey will be his grandfather to solidify their bond permanently.

As a nine-year-old boy, Calvin Anders is abandoned outside in the snow at the admissions building at Warm Springs Insane Asylum, naked and covered with bruises. Calvin is assessed to be mildly intellectually disabled, and his clubbed feet necessitate the use of a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Corrective surgery was available during the historical period in which Calvin was admitted but was never provided for him in the institution. Calvin is extroverted, energetic, and boisterous. He is highly verbal, occasionally to the point of irritating fellow patients and staff at Warm Springs. He is adept at using his wheelchair, if clumsy in his execution as he maneuvers about the ward. He develops an instant attachment to Petey when he comes to live on Ward 18, and the two are inseparable for the five decades they spend in Warm Springs until they are transferred out in the mid-1970s. It is Calvin who discovers Petey is able to form words, however imperfectly, and who discerns the intended meaning of his sounds and translates them to staff members to ensure Petey is included in social interactions. Calvin helps Petey however he is able, both through physical assistance and as a devoted advocate for his friend. Calvin experiences bouts of serious depression, during which he withdraws within himself and interacts only with Petey. Calvin later tells Trevor he did this intentionally to avoid being driven further into madness by the environment on Ward 18. Calvin is transferred to a group home when he leaves Warm Springs State Hospital, and he insists upon being as self-sufficient as possible in every aspect of his personal care. He becomes an athlete in the Special Olympics and is delighted to reunite with Petey when Trevor presents the opportunity.