Some 3000 years ago, Greek poet Homer wrote two epic stories, the Iliad and the Odyssey. Together, these works told of the Trojan War, Helen of Troy, the Trojan Horse, and the 10-year journey of King Odysseus to get back home to Ithaca after the war. The epics also introduced Penelope, the wife of Odysseus, and told how she kept faithful to her husband while he was gone, even when 108 suitors --- assuming that Odysseus was dead --- fought for her hand in marriage. Well, even heroes were kids once, and ODYSSEUS IN THE SERPENT MAZE tells about Odysseus, Penelope, Helen, and many of Homer's other writing subjects when they were children.

All that we know of Odysseus comes from Homer's two stories and from some Greek folk tales. Authors Yolen and Harris built on what we know by researching the time when Odysseus would have lived, and writing a story backwards from that. This new tale is full of fabulous derring-do, with pirates, monsters, and satyrs (half men, half goats). It's a children's version of the Odyssey, an imagined first heroic adventure for Odysseus.

Prince Odysseus, age 13, drags his reluctant friend Mentor along on a boar hunt after "borrowing" the king's spear. The boys manage to come back alive, but just barely, as the hunt is pretty hairy. And Mentor would like to think the adventuring is over. But Odysseus doesn't believe that the Age of Heroes is finished yet; he thinks there is still room for him to grow up to be a great hero himself. The gods seem to agree with Odysseus, because the two boys soon face another adventure that scares even Odysseus. They fall off a ship, get picked up by pirates, meet up with Silenus (a smelly old satyr) find the magic workshop of the inventor, Daedalus, and get thrown into prison on the island of Crete. Then things start getting interesting.

Well, we know that all the children survive to grow up for more adventures, but how? And where does the serpent maze come in? You'll want to read this book to find out.

   --- Reviewed by Tamara Penny