Petey is middle grade novel written by Ben Mikaelsen and published in 1998. Mikaelsen is the author of 10 novels for young adults and the winner of several awards for his work. Petey is dedicated to and based on the life of Clyde Cothern, a Montana man with cerebral palsy who was misdiagnosed as intellectually disabled and confined to Montana State Hospital in the 1920s. Mikaelsen and Cothern shared a close personal friendship, and while Petey is fictionalized, Mikaelsen, whose role in Clyde’s life most closely resembles the role of his character Trevor, states about 90% of Petey is true. Photos of Petey, Mikaelsen, and Mikaelsen’s beloved black bear Buffy, and details about Mikaelsen’s process and approach to writing Petey can be found on the portion of his website dedicated to Clyde and Petey.

Petey is the recipient of the Western Writers of America Spur Award for 1999 and was named an ALA Best Book for Young Adults (1999). Petey is the story of one man’s enduring perseverance as he navigates seven decades of institutional life with a disability and follows his journey as he experiences love, loss, and transformation and finds the meaning and purpose of his life. Written in the third person limited narrative, Petey is told in two parts. The first part follows Petey’s life from his admission to Warm Springs State Hospital in 1922 to his discharge and transfer in 1975. The second part of the novel begins in 1990 and follows the experience of Trevor Ladd, an eighth grader who befriends Petey in the Bozeman Nursing Home where he had been moved.

This guide is based on the 2010 paperback reprint of Petey published by Little, Brown and Company. Petey contains subject matter, situations, and language pertaining to historical conceptions of intellectual disability and mental illness, including dated, pejorative language appropriate to the period and setting but potentially offensive to a contemporary audience. Additionally, Petey depicts a period in American history during which institutional care varied greatly with respect to standards of best practice, and during which many Americans with disabilities were neglected, mistreated, misdiagnosed, and denied protections of their dignity.

Summary

In 1922, Sarah and Roy Coburn make the agonizing decision to surrender their son Petey to the care of the state of Montana. Told that he is intellectually disabled in addition to the physical impairments apparent in their two-year-old’s body, it is recommended to Sarah and Roy that they place him in the custody of the state and never again have contact with their son. Profoundly affected by his severe presentation of cerebral palsy, contrary to medical assumptions Petey is intellectually typical for his age group. Incapable of intentional, dexterous movement or speech because of the orientation and condition of his muscles, Petey is unable to speak or advocate for himself verbally for several years. Transferred from the Infants’ Ward of the Montana State Insane Asylum to Ward 18 for adult men, Petey finds his voice only when he finds a best friend in new patient Calvin Anders. Calvin helps Petey learn to vocalize, form words, and use limited gestures to make meaning from his thoughts so he can communicate with others. A series of kind, compassionate caregivers who befriend and care for Petey and Calvin during their time at Warm Springs make tremendous positive impacts on the two young men, each in their own way. With the implementation of deinstitutionalization in the 1970s, Petey and Calvin are transferred outside of Warm Springs State Hospital, and Petey’s only enduring human connection is severed.

In 1990, Trevor Ladd is walking home from school one day when he sees a trio of bullies throwing snowballs at a nursing home patient. From this encounter, a friendship is forged. Trevor, who has experienced loneliness and loss, sees Petey as someone who can understand how he feels. Petey becomes someone who Trevor admires tremendously, and he values the wisdom and perspective Petey has to offer him. Trevor becomes a champion and protector of his dear new friend and does all that he can to improve the quality of Petey’s life and the scope of his experience. Trevor works tirelessly and diligently to acquire a much-needed new wheelchair for Petey and insists his friend receive the treatment and respect he has so long deserved but so infrequently received. Trevor’s most meaningful gesture is orchestrating a reunion between Petey and Calvin, separated for 13 years by their transfers to different facilities. Only a year after they begin their friendship, Petey, now 70 years old, is struck by pneumonia and a bleeding ulcer. Trevor advocates for his care and remains by his side, but Petey’s health declines rapidly, and Trevor is forced to prepare himself to say goodbye to his remarkable friend. At the close of the novel, Trevor has grown exponentially as a character, and in his final gesture of love to Petey, he invites his companion to become his grandfather, which Petey gladly accepts.