Cloudy in the West is the "coming of age" story of Joey Shipman, only twelve "going on thirteen" as he is fond of adding. He goes to school and works on his pa's ranch, but the work he does is that of a boy. When he hoes weeds in the corn patch, Kelton writes, "His small hands were raw from his angry grip on the wooden handle." The "bad Jersey bull" kept on the Shipman Ranch challenges Joey on a regular basis, and old Reuben warns the boy that "You'd best not agitate that old bull." Joey notices that the bull "seemed to vent its hostility most strongly against youngsters," and that "Pa or Reuben had only to raise a hand and the bull would back off." But with the boy, Joey knew "that the bull would kill him if it could." After the...