Fresh from E. M. Forster, Merchant-Ivory might easily film this new novel of a boy's life at Misericordia Seminary. Ryan O'Hara, from age 14 to 24, narrates his own journey-story of 500 boys under the imperial Rector Karg, disciplinarian Father Gunn, tart Father Polistina, and rebel-priest Father Chris Dryden who knows Fellini and JFK. Strong characters and snappy dialog propel plot conflict forward keeping boys-school location fresh. Storyteller gives each diverse ensemble character-hero or villain, student or priest, man or woman-a rich back story. (Black civil rights of the 60's as well as three strong women characters open this story onto the streets of Chicago.) That the narrator, Ryan O'Hara, is ironically flawed subverts the tale told to the reader in this Catholic Catcher in the Rye. As priests collide with boys, memoir deftly chooses archetype not stereotype. Plot cuts to chase of what they did to all those kids in 50's/60's when the Church of Rome recruited 200,000 American boys' bodies, hearts, and souls into the civil war of conservative-vs-liberal politics. Latin vs. Kumbaya. Author snaps Kid with the dramatic tension of Vatican II the way he structured politics through his signature novel, Some Dance to Remember.