chunk: In the autumn of 1959, shy Todd Anderson begins his senior high school at Welton Academy, an all-male, elite prep boarding school. He is assigned one of Welton's most promising students, Neil Perry, as his roommate and is quickly accepted by Neil's friends: romantic Knox Overstreet, overachiever Richard Cameron, best friends Steven Meeks and Gerard Pitts, and mischievous beatnik Charlie Dalton.