"juniper town" is the story of a small high desert 1950s town that parallels the growth of young steve white with the mission of two influential men from the east, robert pruitt, a banker, and axel baker, an attorney. during his school years young steve experiences, a bullying nemesis, a secret puppy love for the girl next door, a cold-hearted mother who loves his older brother more, a friend tormented by the abuse of a priest, angst about the russians and nuclear war, and average grades and talents amidst the backdrop of this nostalgic, quintessential american era. likewise, pruitt and baker pursue their task, sponsored by a powerful, quasi-secret society from the east, to establish effective yet subtle control of the town's economy and credit, press, labor force, and politics, in a seamless conspiracy of manipulation. opposing them is the owner of the local lumber mill, j. t. holbrook, heretofore the town's most powerful, wealthy, and influential citizen, and conn sol, a mysterious new realtor in town some people refer to as 'ameran, ' an allegedly non-human race which possesses unusual physical and emotional strengths. "juniper town" develops through the interaction of steve white and his young friends: dred sol, conn sol's ameran son; bill bone, steve's life-long nemesis; darlene dickinson, steve's unfulfilled love; jackie robinson, steve's disillusioned negro friend; kenny young, the abused altar boy; gary sanders, the loud mouth wise guy; with the adult players in the story: robert pruitt and axel baker, co-conspirators who install local nice guy marion strutt as their lackey mayor; j. t. holbrook, the lumber king knocked down to size by blackmail; conn sol, the ameran operator whose task is to derail pruitt and baker; virl saeger, steve's cowboy friend and mentor; skip sanders, shady lumber salesman at the mill; mary white, steve's mother who struggles to endure the death of her oldest son chuck in korea; the negro robinsons and crowes, the