SINS OF THE FATHERS

Flanked by misfeasant and malfeasant priests, young buddies Andrew, Hector and the aptly named Skitz loyally stand shoulder to shoulder at the center of Lynch’s typically funny, tragic, edgy Catholic School tale. The trio’s lifetime pledge to wait up for one another come what may is under serious pressure, as Skitz is on probation after throwing a rock through a Rectory window, and the ultra-devout Hector won’t talk about whatever it is that’s driving him to consume so much cola and baby aspirin that he’s been vomiting blood. Though the often-disastrous disconnection between Skitz’s mouth and brain (for which ADD seems too mild an explanation) provides frequent comic relief, as do encounters with Father “I’m a Jesuit. I can do anything” Mullarkey, a hard-drinking, larger than life ex-carny on a Mission to infect the uncomprehending Andrew with his fervor for 60s rock, readers will come to share Andrew’s keen anxiety about what’s happening to his friends, and to appreciate the complex, push-me-pull-you bonds that link the three teens. The adults, particularly Father Mullarkey and his supposedly sanctimonious colleague Father Shenanigan, Hector’s “counselor,” come off considerably less well. (Fiction. YA)