JASON'S SEVEN MAGICAL NIGHT RIDES
by Grace Chetwin & illustrated by Grace Chetwin
Like the mythological creatures in its pages, a chimerical grafting, in this case of time-travel fantasy to problem novel: A horse-loving city boy encounters famous equines of myth and legend (Pegasus, Chiron the centaur, the Trojan Horse, Poseidon's ocean- going steeds, etc.); each episode teaches the fatherless boy a bit about maturity and responsibility. Unfortunately, this attractive premise is imperfectly developed: The classical allusions are too sketchy to make much sense to an uninformed audience while the adventure is burdened with earnest but murky symbolism (e.g., the Unicorn and the Lady represent Jason's dream of a reunited family). A stark denouement leaves largely unexplored the psychological ramifications of Jason's discovery that he was conceived during his mother's misspent teens and she doesn't know who his father is. Illustrated with computer-produced b&w montages of images from various sources that—like elements of the plot—coexist uneasily, their edges never quite blending. (Fiction. 9-12)