JumpMan Rule #2 : Don't Even Think about It

Rule #1 was broken, but luckily disaster has been averted (at least for now), and Jules, Gen, and Theo are back. Their first adventure found them whisking through Time, talking to coats, and just managing to save Theo's life. It turns out that was just a warm-up. In the second chapter of the mind-bending JumpMan series, Jules and Gen (finally) go on a date, Theo turns out to be the biggest celebrity anyone in the year Fifteen Billion and Seventy-Three has ever seen, and we meet a peculiar and very irritating old man who insists that the entire history of the world is about to be overturned -- and that only Jules and Gen can save it. And that's just the beginning. There are sinister forces at work, and Rule #1 is not just going to be broken, it's going to be smashed apart. It's funny, it's thrilling, it'll blow your mind. But what else would you expect from the acclaimed and internationally bestselling author James Valentine? WARNING: Improper use of the TimeMaster JumpMan may result in random time travel to unexplored and dangerous points in history.

Chapter One: Time Out Present NowFriday night -- early Mil 3 Jules hadn't known you could sweat so much from the palms of your hands. Under your arms, on top of your head, sure, but this was like someone had just installed a sprinkler system beneath his fingers. Could he wipe them again? But where? Couldn't wipe them on his clothes and he'd already wiped them twice on the movie theater seat. Do it again and Gen'd be sure to notice. But here they were a third of the way into the movie and he hadn't even tried to hold her hand. Why don't I just forget about it and enjoy the movie? Jules thought. --I wish you would,sighed his brain.Do you want to know what's happened so far? --Shut up, brain. Either help me decide what to do here or shut up. --I'd love to help but you keep changing your mind. --You're my mind! You stop changing. --No, I'm your brain. You're your mind. What makes you think your mind's in your brain? --Can you stop my hands from sweating? --Ah, an involuntary physical reaction while undergoing extreme stress. Sorry, not my department. Blame evolution. --Brain. Go away. --Just take it. --Take what? --Her hand. --Just take it? --There is no right time. Just do it. See what happens. Jules looked up at the screen. Then he leaned back a little in his chair and peered out of the corner of his eye at Gen. It had taken a lot of hard work to get to this point. Three months they'd been locked up, treated like they'd been caught smoking, stealing, and skipping school all at once. Gen had been banished from her attic bedroom and forced to return to sharing with her little sister, Cynthia. Jules had been under a strict regimen devised by his dad, Tony, who'd enrolled him in martial arts, piano lessons, and extra math tutoring every night after school so he was never mooching around at home. Tony also had Jules on a strict macrobiotic diet and had forced him to drink wheatgrass juice every morning. Three months of straight home from school and homework checked and early nights. Now finally they'd been allowed a night out but it hadn't been easy to arrange. His dad had been washing bean sprouts and listening to talk radio discussing public education when Jules had put the question to him. Could he take Gen to the movies on Friday night? Tony had turned around with a frightened look on his face, thrust a handful of wet bean sprouts at Jules, and then gone immediately to his study to check several books and to call Jules's mother, Angela. When Gen had asked her mum, Katherine had leaped up from the couch right in the middle of watching her favorite TV show, which to Gen appeared to be about four old women complaining about not being able to find a boyfriend anywhere on the planet. "It's starting again. They're planning something," Katherine had screamed. "Let me spell this out. En. Oh. Double You. Ay. Why. NO WAY! I have not been through three months of intense therapy and PowerRelaxation to have you two start all this again." Gen had raised her eyebrows and backed out of the room, thinking to herself that the therapy and the PowerRelaxation were obviously not enough. Then she went up to the attic room to ask her dad. After six phone calls back and forth between the two families; after promising to forfeit all future privileges (including phone calls, television, and any foods containing sugar or artificial sweeteners or numbered chemical additives); and after a late attempt by Katherine to insist they take Cynthia to seeLilo and Stitch Three,permission was finally granted. That's when Jules's hands had started to sweat. They sweated as he tried to decide which shirt to wear. --This one?he'd inquired of his brain.<