Jason and the Bard

Young Jason plunges into the Avon Shakespeare Festival for the summer, ready to learn more about his passion--acting. Instead, he learns a lot about the business behind the scenes, including something of human nature. Gilmore ( Enter Three Witches ) does a fine job of presenting the larger - than-life characters, yet her novel has a few too many loose ends to satisfy a careful reader. There's a middle-school-type mystery involving lost props, some sophisticated theater types engaged in ongoing catfights, a little racial consciousness-raising and a very large supporting cast. Gilmore's enthusiasm for the theater may win those readers already stagestruck, but for the rest, it's much ado about very little. Ages 12-up. (Apr.)