THE TONGUES OF ANGELS <i> by Reynolds Price (Ballantine: $4.95).</i>

An artist recalls the summer that represented a turning point in his personal and professional life in this critically praised novel: It’s less a coming-of-age story than an account of an artist learning the meaning of his vocation. While working as a counselor at a small religious camp in the Smoky Mountains, Bridge Boatner meets Raphael Noren, an oddly mature boy of 14 who finds an escape from the harsh realities of his life in Native American dances. As Boatner struggles with his vision of the role of the artist, he learns to infuse his paintings with the mystic power of the elegiac yet hopeful Sioux Ghost Dance that Raphael performs at the campfire.