Saving Grandma

The Becker family returns in this book, less sympathetically portrayed than in Portofino. Mr. Becker’s foul-mouthed, foul-tempered mother has moved in with the family while she recovers from a broken hip, and the family is not taking it well. Calvin, now age fifteen, spends much of his time dreaming of running away to Italy to his beloved Jennifer. There are quite a few sexual references (mostly in fantasy form) throughout the book. Still a funny book in places, I found myself laughing less than I did while reading Portofino. More often I sat shaking my head in disgust at the very un-Christlike behavior of Calvin’s self-righteous parents (surely any mission board’s worst nightmare come true). The Beckers do not paint a very flattering portrait of missionaries and their work and they do not seem likable in this book.