Holy communion

the long version

Holy Communion is a rite-of-passage novel that follows a seven-year-old boy's first communion preparations and celebration. Throughout the four-day period the boy deals with cruel nuns, sadistic babysitters, his mother's unfortunate accident, a drunken father, plus a pedophile or two, but finds a way to cope in the midst of so much tragedy-first by indifference, later by defiance and rebellion. He also discovers that his urban surroundings in New York City give him autonomy, comfort, and satisfaction. Holy Communion is full of the boy's despair and self-questioning, along with the author Mykola Dementiuk's powerful insights into the human condition.