A large number of Jessamyn West's characters are adolescents who are confronting the troublesome years amongst youth and adulthood. When expounding on youthful grown-ups, West does not disparage her characters or treat their issues gently, rather she composes with sensitivity and comprehension. John Thomas Hobhouse, thirteen, is sure his pet child steer Wavy, will win the blue lace at the Nation Reasonable in Verdant, California. He has admitted to his sister Jo, twenty, that he asked not to win but rather that the judges would, "Know their stuff." With his sister, their young widower father, and Mrs. Henny the servant, John Thomas saw Wavy win the blue lace. It is just when the cows are being unloaded that the kid acknowledges he will free
