Frozen in Time

Exploring the overgrown garden of their family house, 13-year-old Ben and 12-year-old Rachel find a sealed bomb shelter. Inside, amongst various 1950s items are two children – Freddy and Polly – who were put into cryonic suspension in 1956. Once they are revived, they are revealed as the great uncle and aunt of Ben and Rachel, and bring with them a mystery – what happened to their father, an eminent scientist, who disappeared shortly after freezing them in time?

From this basis in science-fiction, Sparkes provides a narrative combining comedy, adventure, mystery and school-story. Much of the humour derives from contrasting the manners and expectations of two children from the 1950s with those of 2009. In practice, Freddy and Polly bear more resemblance to characters from 1950s’ children’s literature, attending boarding school and using upper-class expressions (‘gosh’, ‘super’). Indeed, one of the main aims seems to be to bring the 1950s’ adventure story into the present, an impression reinforced by references to Enid Blyton’s Famous Five and the Boy’s Own.

Sparkes includes many period details such as brand names. Unfortunately these references do not really add up to a coherent sense of the period, and might not be appreciated by youthful readers. Other themes, such as the physical side-effects of the cryonic process, are introduced only to be disposed of far too easily. Nevertheless, the interplay between the characters demonstrates what modern children can learn from the values of the 1950s, and might provide an interesting discussion point for teachers. And children will relish the exciting action sequence, which makes good use of cross-cutting between parallel story-lines and a series of cliffhangers.