Pin it- Do It May

Hey, 'sup there? If you hadn't noticed, I hadn't been here in a while. February was monitoring month (which is me watching construction teams dig holes), making for long days and not always much reading time. Add getting back into crafting, with a dash of not sure how to put bookish thoughts into review form and we come to today. Yup, pretty much sums it up for me. So I'm trying to slowly work my way back to my blog and reader (will probably have to purge subs there). But I digress.

Since I'm doing more crafty things, I'm going to try to do Pin It Do It with Trish of Love, Laughter, and a Touch of Insanity. I'm going to do Timid Pinner 1-3 pins. I store pins for things I want to try in Things to Try and Craftiness to Do boards. I will try to post pictures on Ravelry too.

Jump Cut by Ted Staunton

Jump Cut by Ted Staunton
The Seven Series
Orca Book Publishers
Arc recieved from LibraryThing Early Reviewers giveaways
4 stars

Synopsis

Spencer loves movies, but real life is boring, right? When his late grandfather's will reveals the tasks he wants his grandsons to undertake, Spencer thinks he got screwed. He's not going to France or Spain or Africa. He's not even getting a cool tattoo, like his younger brother. No, he's going to Buffalo to get a kiss from an ancient movie star. Gross. And he's supposed to film it. Grosser. But Spencer hasn't bargained on Gloria Lorraine, star of the silver screen back in the day. Gloria has big plans--plans that involve her granddaughter AmberLea, a gun, a baker who might be a gangster, some real gangsters and a road trip to Nowheresville, Ontario. After being shot at, jumping into an icy lake and confronting some angry bikers, Spencer finally realizes that real life can be as exciting (and dangerous) as reel life.

Thoughts

First off, this doesn't seem like a series you need to read in any particular order. Each of the seven books tell the story through one of the grandsons, and the novels overlap each other in time. You'll get more if you read several, especially if you read ones about siblings. Spencer is Bunny's brother, so he gets quick messages about Bunny's task (Ink Me).

This was a very fast, middle grade read. The story is gender neutral, which is great. There are elements that will probably attract boys more, and some that will draw girls more. But it was the gangster part of the story line that really kept the story moving along. One thing I liked most was that Spencer seems to be more of an introverted character, and not the stereotypical boy who likes sports and showing off. If you are looking for a contemporary middle grade novel that is not romantic in nature, you should check this out.