Portofino

Berkley Trade, 1999. Very Good. Sharply evocative sensuous descriptions heighten the splendor of the Italia n Riviera in a beautifully written bildungsroman coming-of-age story set in the summers of 1962 and 1965. Calvin Becker, 10 years old at the start of this debut novel, and his family, American fundamentalist missionaries base d in Switzerland, take 10 days every year to vacation on the Mediterranean, and these trips are the best part of Calvin's life. In Paraggi and Portofi no he leaves behind the exaggerated piety of his home to bask in color and wonder. Amid his adventures Calvin confronts his mortification at the all-t oo-apparent differences between his family and those around them; issues of faith and tolerance; the gap between his parents' messages about charity a nd their marital difficulties; and his own first love--with Jennifer, a Bri tish girl who belongs to the Church of England. Writing in the first person , in the voice of the adult Calvin, Schaeffer captures the experience of bo yhood with great insight and unselfconscious humor. At times distinctions b etween his narrator and the boy protagonist are imprecise, but this is a me re quibble with a convincing and often touching novel.