Jump Cut

By Ted Staunton

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.

Spencer's adventures start in Speed, part of The Seven Prequels and continue in Coda, part of The Seven Sequels.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
• Release date: Oct 12, 2012
• ISBN: 9781554699490

Ted Staunton

Ted Staunton divides his time between writing and a busy schedule as a speaker, workshop leader, storyteller and musical performer for children and adults. Ted lives in Port Hope, Ontario.

Book preview

TED STAUNTON

JUMP

   CUT

ORCA BOOK PUBLISHER

Copyright © 2012 Ted Staunton

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Staunton, Ted, 1956-

Jump cut [electronic resource]/Ted Stuanton

Seven (the series)

Electonic Monograph

Issued also in print format.

ISBN 978-1-55469-948-3(pdf). --ISBN 978-1-55469-949-0 (epub)

I. Title. II. Series: Seven the series (Online)

PS8587.T334J86 2012 jc813’.54 C2012-902622-0

First published in the United States, 2012

Library of Congress Control Number: 20129838225

Summary: Spencer, an aspiring filmmaker, takes a trip to Buffalo to get a kiss from an aging movie star.

Orca Book Publishers is dedicated to preserving the environment and has printed this book on paper certified by the Forest Stewardship Council®.

Orca Book Publishers gratefully acknowledges the support for its publishing programs provided by the following agencies: the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund and the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Province of British Columbia through the BC Arts Council and the Book Publishing Tax Credit.

Design by Teresa Bubela

Cover photography by Getty Images

Orca Book Publishers

PO Box 5626, Station B

Victoria, BC Canada

V8R 6S4

Orca Book Publishers

PO Box 468

Custer, WA USA

98240-0468

www.orcabook.com

Printed and bound in Canada.

15  14 13  12  •  4  3  2  1

In loving memory of my father,

Frederick William Staunton, and my grandfather,

William James Stewart; and for my son, Will Staunton.

Contents

REEL ONE

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

SIX

SEVEN

EIGHT

NINE

TEN

REEL TWO

ELEVEN

TWELVE

THIRTEEN

FOURTEEN

FIFTEEN

SIXTEEN

SEVENTEEN

EIGHTEEN

NINETEEN

REEL THREE

TWENTY

TWENTY-ONE

TWENTY-TWO

TWENTY-THREE

TWENTY-FOUR

TWENTY-FIVE

TWENTY-SIX

TWENTY-SEVEN

TWENTY- EIGHT

TWENTY-NINE

THIRTY

THIRTY-ONE

THIRTY-TWO

THIRTY-THREE

REEL FOUR

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

REEL ONE

TWO SHOT

BY SPENCER O’TOOLE

FADE IN:

EXT.—A COUNTRY ROAD—LONG SHOT, FROM ABOVE—DAY

A red Miata, top down, zooms along.

CLOSE-UP—SPENCER

SPENCER (Colin Farrell?) is behind the wheel. His hair blows in the wind. He’s all in black with cool black shades. His chiseled face has a three-day beard.

EXT.—GATES OF HUGE MANSION—LONG SHOT, FROM ABOVE—DAY

Miata turns in at gates of a huge mansion.

EXT.—STEPS OF MANSION—TRACKING SHOT FOLLOWS FROM BEHIND SPENCER—DAY

SPENCER strides up steps to mansion. Door opens. BUTLER nods.

INT.—MANSION HALLWAY—DAY

SPENCER walks down elegant hallway to giant doors.

He opens them.

INT.—MANSION LIBRARY—WIDE SHOT (SPENCER’S POINT OF VIEW)—DAY

Two of Spencer’s cousins, COUSIN DJ and COUSIN STEVE, are arm wrestling while playing chess. COUSIN ADAM flicks knives into a target across the room. COUSIN WEBB hangs upside down, texting. Spencer’s brother BUNNY is on the couch, playing with a tiger. BUNNY looks at SPENCER and nods. The LAWYER sits at a big desk.

MEDIUM SHOT—LAWYER AT DESK

LAWYER

Spencer. Good, we can get started. Gentlemen…

WIDE SHOT—GROUP AROUND DESK

All sit around desk in leather chairs.

SPENCER

Sorry I’m late.

COUSIN DJ

(buttoning sleeve)

CIA again?

SPENCER

MI6.

COUSIN ADAM

(putting knives in pockets)

They always call me when I’m making dinner.

BUNNY

(stroking tiger)

It’s nice to be wanted.

LAWYER

Ahem. Now then. Gentlemen, your grandfather’s will is a curious affair. But then, he was a curious man.

All look up at painting of Grandpa in a massive, ornate gold frame.

PAN TO:

CLOSE-UP—PAINTING OF GRANDPA

GRANDPA is wearing a cool leather flying jacket and a black beret. He’s holding a Colt .45 and a compass.

LAWYER (OFF SCREEN)

Perhaps I should let him explain…

SPECIAL EFFECTS:

Picture turns misty and swirls into a hologram. Pixels resolve into a 3-D GRANDPA. He’s dressed all in black and now he’s got a glass of whiskey and a cigar.

GRANDPA

Boys—sorry, men. I have a final mission for each of you.

ONE

Just kidding. I wish though. Really, we take the 501 Queen streetcar to the lawyer’s office: Deb, Jerry, Bunny and me. Deb and Jer are my mom and dad. B-Man Bunny is my baby brother. His real name is Bernard. He’s twice as thick as me and maybe forty-three times stronger. Bunster is your go-to guy for jars that need opening or cars that need to be lifted with one finger.

The lawyer’s office is downtown. Don’t ask me where; all the way there I was streaming Kill Bill on my cell phone. I’ve seen it fourteen times, but I like it. And I’m starting film studies in the fall at Humber College, so it’s important that I study the fine points—like Kiddo.

Also, it’s better than listening to Deb and Jer. Deb is still uptight because Grandpa D was her dad and now he’s dead. That’s why we’re going to see the lawyer. Deb insisted we dress up. Naturally that got Jer uptight too. Jer gets cranky when he has to take the bandanna off his head. Even Bunny knows that. Who knows why? It’s not as if he doesn’t have any hair. It’s just that the front is creeping back toward his ponytail, which is something he really should lose, if you ask me. He hasn’t asked.

Anyway, as we ride up in the elevator, Deb says to Jer, You know how I feel about cowboy boots, and Bun tugs at his collar and says, This scratches, and Jer hums Ripple. I keep my earbuds in and turn up the volume.

All my cousins and aunts and one uncle are in the office. We find seats and the lawyer comes in and starts talking. I’m not paying much attention because Kiddo is really swinging her swords now. Next thing I know, everyone starts jabbering and the lawyer is yelling Just stop! or something, and a minute later all the parents get up and leave the room.

What’s up? I don’t know. I shut down my phone. Bunny moves over and sits beside me. We’re okay, right? he says.

We’re cool, Bun. Whatever’s going on can’t be that big a deal. I mean, we’re not the grown-ups, right? I tuck my phone in my pocket.

It turns out there’s something to watch anyway. It also turns out that I’m wrong about it not being a big deal. The lawyer messes with the remote for a flat-screen TV, and all of a sudden Grandpa D pops up on the screen, wearing his black beret.

The lighting is too bright. The colors are wild. Grandpa looks a little orange, as if he has makeup on. That alone would be pretty crazy. Grandpa D was not exactly what you’d call a makeup kind of guy. Jer always said he chewed rivets from his airplanes for mineral supplements. On the TV, Grandpa starts blabbing away about loving us all. It’s kind of weird, seeing as how he’s dead.

Bunny shakes my arm. What’s going on?

Ssh. We’ll find out.

What’s Grandpa saying?

He loves you.

I know that, Bunny says. So?

Ssh.

Actually, it’s a good question. No matter what Grandpa is saying in his video, I’m pretty sure he liked Bunny a lot more than he liked me. He’d start glowing anytime Bun wanted to wrestle or when he crushed a baseball out of the park. Comics and gaming? Nah, not so much. And Jer’s Front Porch Farmer column for the Parkdale Advertiser? I don’t think so.

Grandpa D was always after me to do manly stuff, although once he gave me a list of old movies he thought I should watch. That was nice, even though I’m not much of a black-and-white guy. I decide to look up the list when I get home, maybe watch a couple as my tribute to Grandpa.

Except now it sounds as if Grandpa has other plans for us. I listen more closely. Bunny is hissing at me again. What’s happening?

He wants us to do something.

What?

We have to wait and see, Bun.

I shoot a quick look at my cousins. Bunny is a loud whisperer. They’re cool with it though. They usually are. I don’t have a lot in common with these guys, but they’re good about Bun.

Video Grandpa tells us he has a task for each of us and then the movie is over. The lawyer is handing out large sealed brown envelopes to all us cousins. Now Bunny isn’t the only one who’s confused. We’re all looking around, wondering, Whaaat? Do we open these now?

In a movie, this is where you’d cut to black.

TWO

In real life, Deb makes us wait until we get home to open the envelopes.

Dear Spence,

Sorry I’m not there in person, but if you’re reading this, I’m airborne, as it were. Now Spence, I know there have been times when we couldn’t figure each other out. I like to do things. You like to watch things. That doesn’t mean we can’t meet in the middle. It’s a big place.

The middle has your brother in it. Watch out for him always, Spence. Bernard thinks you’re the bee’s knees, as we used to say, and he needs a co-pilot. I know you won’t let him down.

The middle also, believe it or not, has movies. I like movies too. My all-time favorite movie star was Gloria Lorraine. Ask your mom if my liking Gloria L wasn’t a family joke. Gloria Lorraine is older than me, Spence, but as I write this, she’s still alive and kicking. I want you to go and see her—I know you can find her with the Internet and all—and get her to give you a kiss on the cheek. Tell her it’s for me, a sentimental favor.

Film that kiss for me, Spence. Someone’s got to make movies and this one only you can make. If Gloria Lorraine has passed or is incapacitated, look in the smaller envelope with this letter for your alternate movie mission.

The lawyer will have money for you to buy a good video camera and for travel and any other expenses you might have.

Make your first movie one that the family can watch and think of me.

Do these things for me. Do them with me. I know you can. Remember that list of movies I made for you? I hope you watched Casablanca. Remember what Rick says to Louis at the end? This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Sometimes I’m a little too late to the station, but really, it’s never too late.

Love,

Grandpa

THREE

Jer starts making pie dough while Bunny and I read our letters; he always bakes when he’s bugged. At first, all the talk is about Bunny’s task. Bun is supposed to get a tattoo of Grandpa’s old fighter squadron logo from World War II. Deb is not big on tattoos, even if they are of Grandpa’s squadron logo. Oh please,

Reviews for Jump Cut

[elizajane_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is the fifth book I've read in this series and, while I'm highly pleased with series as a whole, at this time I can fairly say this has been my favourite title to date and may be the best in the whole series. I do still have Shane Peacock's entry to read, though, so I'll reserve final judgement till then. Hooked from the beginning, this is a classic tale of boy's adventure. The main character is 17yo film director wannabe Spencer and his quest from the Grandfather involves filming his task. Filmmaking, movies, the "pictures" is a major theme here and the book reads as if it is a movie. Pure action from start to finish, with admittedly over-the-top events accumulating on top of one another. One has to suspend belief for this tale, but it is obvious the author has written the plot like this on purpose as real life is compared and contrasted to movies frequently. Involving hidden secrets from the past, drug deals, bikers, mafia and a race against time, I found this story to be both exciting and good fun. The events of this and Ink Me are tied to one another, in that what is happening in one affects the plot of the other, but this is conveyed to the brothers through texts and it won't matter which one you read first. Though having already read Ink Me, I completely understood what was happening with that aspect of this plot. It's wonderful to read a book where you love all the characters and here I certainly did, right down to the dog, Mistah Bones. And GL, the grandma? Let me say, everybody is going to want to go out and get themselves a 90yo grandma after meeting her. Staunton is a new author for me. I've only just read his latest book "Who I'm Not" and look forward to his further ventures in Young Adult action/suspense.

[pandorasbooks · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A quick and easy read that's a lot of fun, with great characters. A little young for me, but middle graders should like it more.

[sawcat · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

"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."

[bookwyrmm_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Each of the books in the Seven series follows a grandson as he carries out his grandfather's last request. Jump Cut is Spencer O'Toole's story. Because he dreams of being a filmmaker, Grandpa D sends Spencer to visit aging B-movie star Gloria Lorraine and film her giving him a kiss on the cheek. Spencer cannot understand the reason behind the request, but that is all part of what proves to be an interesting journey as Spencer, as do all good YA protagonists, learns a lot about himself along the way. This is a wonderful, quick read perfect for more reluctant readers or anyone who enjoys a good YA aimed at boys.

[elizardkwik · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was an interesting story with a great premise and quite a cast of characters. Not entirely believable, but enough to draw interest to the other books in the series. Recommended to potential movie-makers and those who like series with books written by different people.

[bstreeper_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I got Jump Cut in the early review program. It is a great YA book, fun and easy read. Definitely a great book for male teenagers as most of the characters are male.

[innogenchi · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I received this book through Library Thing's early review program. The first thing that struck me about this book, and the series that it is a part of, was the all-male cast of seven protagonists. Under other circumstances, this would put me off a piece of media. However, YA literature is pretty much dominated by female-driven stories , so I appreciate the effort to market reading for fun to adolescent boys.The main problem I had was with the main character. Spencer is unintelligent and annoying with few redeeming qualities. Flawed characters are good, and he does improve as a human being by the end, but there was not enough to save this character. It's important for YA authors, in particular, to respect the intelligence of their audience. Choosing to make the protagonist so dense and immature speaks poorly to the author's opinion of young men Spencer's age reading the book.However, there were many things the book did right. The side characters were flawed and surprisingly complex for such a small chapter book. The humor managed to be sharp and mature while still walking the line of age-appropriateness. The action was mostly fast paced. Most promisingly, another story in the series, running concurrent to the events of JUMP CUT, was alluded to in a successfully intriguing manner. If I see another of the series in stores, I'll probably pick it up.

[hkarmo · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I got this as an early reviewer and I have to say I was surprised at the quality of writing and story telling. I found myself wanting to read it outside of my normal reading time (on the bus to/from work). This book follows Spencer (one of the seven cousins left with a task in their late grandfather's will) as he finds and meets Gloria Lorraine, an old time movie star. What starts out as a simple task evolves to a wonderful story with unexpected twists and turns. It made me want to read the other six books to see what happens to the other grandchildren. Great for pre-teen and young teen boys and girls!

[karen813 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Jump Cut chronicles the adventures of an ordinary 18 year old boy, an elderly actress, her wayward granddaughter and a mob connected baker. Spencer, an aspiring filmmaker who would prefer to watch the action, not actually be involved in it, finds himself the caught up in his very own personal action movie. He is fulfilling the wishes of his dead grandfather, claim a kiss from an aging movie star and film the story of it. Spencer thinks it will be an easy, if unexciting, task. He is a bit envious of his cousins whose tasks seem much more exciting than his. When he meets Gloria Lorraine he is taken by surprise when she insists that he help her "run a few errands". Along the way they pick up her granddaughter and a mobster and Spencer gets more excitement than anyone could have expected. I really liked this book and I loved the idea of a grandfather sending his grandkids on missions to fulfill his last requests. Gloria Lorraine's story was one worth telling and I loved that Spencer was chosen to tell this tale. I think the journey helped Spencer understand his grandfather and himself in a much better way. I am looking forward to reading the other six stories in this series.

[eata-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I received Jump Cut as part of the Early Reviewers program. This was a quick, fun and exciting read! The story hooked me - I loved Spencer's grandpa and how Spencer grew throughout the journey. I am such a loser for this type of plot - I was completely engrossed until the very end. I thoroughly enjoying reading Jump Cut!

[sunni_loves_to_read · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I received this book from the early reviewers club on librarything, and I was very surprised at how fast I read this book! I loved the story it is appropriate for all ages and super funny! I can't help saying that GL the old lady/ actress in the book reminds me of the madea movies:) I thought the book was great, it's about a boy named spencer who is asked in his grandfathers will to go to buffalo and tape GL kissing him on the cheek, but little did he know GL would hijack a car at the retirement home and make him and her grand daughter go on a journey with her and there is a little something in the trunk they discover when they hear thumping coming from the back end of the car! I don't want to sit and spoil this entire book I will just say YES and two thumbs up for Ted Stauntton. I really liked the book and all the characters were so real and funny and I would recommend this book to anyone who likes some adventure and a good laugh. Thanks Mr. Staunton for such a wonderful book and am so appreciative for my copy of it.(less)

[emily1s · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Jump Cut was one of those books that can be enjoyed time and time again. It was a quick, easy read, and I will be sharing it with family and friends, young and old.The story itself was so engrossing; I never wanted it to end. Spencer’s grandpa seemed like a nice old man, and when GL told her story I choked up a few times. I feel that during Spencer’s journey, he grew closer to his grandfather, even after death.Every character in this book, right down to the little Chihuahua, are developed with heart. They have feelings for miles, and I felt connected to every single one of them.I’m excited to read the rest of this series. I’m sure Grandpa David sent each of his grandsons on some really cool adventures. Although, I’m not sure any will be as interesting as Spencer’s story was. Also, I loved how Bunny’s story tied into Spencer’s at some parts! Really cool.