Frozen in Time

Read Frozen in Time Storyline:

From School Library JournalGr 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 BooklistBen 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