AustLit

Towards the end of last century between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. on a Saturday night, Channel Nine broadcast a television show called Hey Hey, It's Saturday. It was a peculiar show, featuring a genial host, an ostrich puppet, an unseen voice-over man, a hat on a stick, a band, singers and entertainers and a range of fun games and segments. One of the segments was the Great Aussie Joke. Shane Bourne and Maurie Fields would tell jokes sent in by viewers: Little Johnny is sitting in the gutter. He's playing with a bottle. The local priest walks by and says, 'Little Johnny, what's in the bottle?' Little Johnny replies, 'Sulphuric acid!' The priest looks alarmed and says, 'Give that to me! Take this bottle of holy water instead. It's wonderful. Last week I rubbed some of this on the belly of a lady and she passed a beautiful little baby.' 'That's nothing,' says Little Johnny. 'I rubbed some of this on my dog's backside and he passed a Mercedes!' (Introduction)

'Stuff happens sometimes. Everyday stuff. At school, at home, with sport, with mates.

'For Luke it happened on public speaking day.

'Stuff Happens. Real-life stories for boys. Suitable for beginner and newly confident readers. ' (Publication summary)

'Theo knows the Rule, just as every kid from the year fifteen billion and seventy-three does: When using your TimeMaster JumpMan for routine time travel, DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING. And usually, when traveling to routine JumpSites like Three Seconds After the Big Bang or the Building of the Great Pyramid, this is no problem. But Theo's latest TimeJump is anything but routine. First, this Jump has put him in the early twenty-first century, of all places. Second, he has found himself visible to Genevieve and Jules, just as Jules is about to ask Gen out on a date. And finally, his JumpMan won't send him back to where he came from.

'Will Theo get back to his own time, without disintegrating? Will the very fabric of space and time be torn to shreds? And most important...will Jules ever be able to ask Gen out on that date? Only time will tell in this roller-coaster ride of action, humor, and suspense from international best-seller James Valentine.' (Publication summary)

'Theodore Pine Four - teenager, TimeJumper, legend - can't work out why TimeJumping is no longer the hottest thing since the Big Bang. Sure, Quincy Carter One tried to undermine the entire structure of Time itself by changing history, but now that Quincy's disappeared, surely a little TimeJumping won't hurt anyone?Meanwhile, back in the third millennium, Jules Santorini - teenager, daydreamer, dork - can't work out why he's suddenly the most popular kid at school. He and Gen did TimeJump into the future and then back to the past to save the present from Quincy's evil plans ... but no one's supposed to know about that. And why was Quincy so interested in them in the first place?No one knows what's going to happen next. Or before. Which is what happens when you start fooling around with time ...'  (Publication summary)

'"The year is fifteen billion and seventy-three and Theo - teenager, TimeJumper, legend - is the biggest celebrity on the Two Planets. Theo knows there's only one rule when you TimeJump- Don't Touch Anything. Just the slightest change to events could have catastrophic consequences. But Theo's been spending a lot of time with Quincy Carter One, the man in charge of TimeMaster Corporation. Quincy's starting to think that Rule 1 doesn't apply to him. Why not fiddle about with history? Meanwhile, back in the present Jules and Gen are too busy worrying about their first date to wonder what Theo's up to. They have no idea they're about to TimeJump three thousand years into the future, become invisible, spy on Theo, and try to save the world. (Hopefully without Gen's Mum noticing they're up to anything). Can Rule 1 be broken? And if it can't, then why do we need Rule 2?"' (Publication summary)