Frozen in Time

From School Library Journal Gr 4-7–Ben and Rachel Corder are stuck in a British country house with their scientist uncle who hates to be disturbed while he is doing his research. The satellite is out, Uncle Jerome has the only computers, and the television explodes immediately. They've used up all the batteries that might power a handheld video game or even a radio and, to top it off, it has been raining for days. When the sun breaks through, the kids grab their wellies and head out into the overgrown yard only to find a buried vault partially uncovered by the rain. Inside, they find Freddy and Polly Emerson, kids their age who have been in cryogenic suspension since 1956. They were presumed murdered by their scientist father, who disappeared without a trace. The four recruit Uncle Jerome to help them find out what did, in fact, happen to Dr. Emerson. While the Corders teach the Emersons about cell phones, piercings, microwave food, and pop culture of 2010, the Emersons demonstrate some skills that today's children lack. Meanwhile, there are signs that the cryogenic process may not have been perfected. This story feels a bit frozen in time itself with its wholesome kids and ''gee-whiz'' attitude. As such, it should appeal most to readers with some curiosity about the previous century and who could, themselves, survive for an afternoon without a cell phone, computer game, or Internet connection. Eric Norton, McMillan Memorial Library, Wisconsin Rapids, WI © Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. From Booklist Ben and Rachel, who live in a large house outside an English town, find adventure when they explore their wildly overgrown garden and discover an underground bunker that houses two children in cryogenic chambers. Released and awakened, Freddy and Polly emerge to discover an England quite different from the one they knew in 1956. Their father, a brilliant scientist who disappeared when they did, is still missing. When government agents from two countries hear of the children’s reappearance, the chase is on—and the stakes are high. Though the story is shadowed by the mystery of what happened to Freddy and Polly’s father in 1956 and whether he is still alive, most of the novel portrays, in often-amusing scenes, the series of shocks they experience as they adjust to present-day English culture, values, technology, and vocabulary. In the last quarter of the book, the action scenes pick up the pace considerably, but the story becomes less convincing and more conventional. Still, an intriguing variation on the time-travel theme. Grades 4-7. --Carolyn Phelan Publication Date: October 4, 2008 1956 Freddy and Polly have always known their father is a genius. So they've never minded helping him with his experiments. Even when that means being put into cryonic suspension-having their hearts frozen until their father wakes them up again. They know it will only be for an hour or two, so there's nothing to worry about...2009 Ben and Rachel have resigned themselves to a long, boring summer. Then they find the hidden underground vault in the garden-and inside it two frozen figures, a boy and a girl. And as if that isn't spooky enough, when Rachel accidentally presses a button, something unbelievable happens...Can Polly and Freddy adapt to the twenty-first century? Will their bodies survive having been in suspension for so long? And most important of all, what happened to their father-and why did he leave them frozen in time? Ben and Rachel Corder are sure they're in for the longest, dullest summer ever, until they discover an underground vault at the bottom of their garden with an amazing secret inside - two children from the 1950s who have been asleep for decades. But waking up Freddy and Polly Emerson means unearthing the secrets that were buried with them. Why would their father leave them frozen? How is cryonic suspension even possible? Why doesn't the world know about the process fifty years later? How will the Emersons ever fit into the 21st century world of cell phones and microwave dinners? And why does it feel like they're all suddenly being followed? Winner of Blue Peter's Book That I Couldn't Put Down and Book of the Year Award 2010 . Ben and Rachel discover the frozen figures of Freddy and Polly in an underground vault. The children have been in cryonic suspension since 1956, and awake to life in the 21st century, where they must search for their father, and discover why he left them frozen in time. Suggested level: primary, intermediate. In present-day England, thirteen-year-old Ben and his twelve-year-old sister Rachel find two children who have been cryogenically frozen in a bomb shelter since 1956, and must prevent them from being discovered while helping them adjust to modern life.