Frozen in Time (novel)
Encyclopedia
Frozen in Time is an award-winning book by author Ali Sparkes
. It has won two Blue Peter
awards. Set in Britain 2009, the story researches cryonic suspension and life in 1956 Britain as well.
breaks and the TV
explodes. Unable to do anything to amuse themselves, Ben and Rachel start digging in the garden and find themselves opening a hatch. They drop themselves into it and find themselves in what looks like an old-fashioned underground house. They find a what looks like a torpedo
and are shocked to see two dead bodies in it. Rachel accidentally presses a button and suddenly the hatch opens and the bodies come to life. Rachel faints and Ben starts talking gibberish in his shock. The two people that had before seemed dead introduced themselves as Freddy and Polly Emerson and asked why they were in their fathers' vault. When Rachel and Ben explained, they first refused to believe it, but then believed when Rachel and Ben took them into their house. Freddy and Polly revealed they had been put into cryonic suspension - their father had stopped their hearts and was able to make them start again. Freddy and Polly had been put to sleep in 1956 and woke up in 2009. They couldn't understand why their father had deserted them.
In time, Rachel and Ben introduce them to 2009, and Freddy and Polly are frequently shocked. They get sent to school (under the name Robertson, in case there's anyone old enough on the school staff to remember) and try to research what happened to their father. A cheerful librarian
gives them documents.
One day, Rachel reads an email
sent to her by her uncle saying "Get out of the house now!!!You are in danger we hope you disobey our rules we will come to the house to investigate. " Ben and Freddy, who had been escaping bullies, come back to see Rachel and Polly being drugged and thrown into the boot of the car. Ben knocks a man out with a camera
and runs to the librarian, who had been planning the whole thing. She had suspected Freddy and Polly's real identity and wanted to know about the cryonic suspension and how it worked. Ben eventually gets drugged too and thrown into the car also. The car drives away and Rachel wakes up to see Polly being taken out of the car to be boarded onto a helicopter . She finds a torch
, picks the lock of the boot with a hairgrip and sprays antiseptic
into the librarians' eyes. They then get taken to a place where the people know all about the cryonic suspension, but wanted to help them. Freddy and Polly are reunited with their father, who had put himself into cryonic suspension. The story ends with Freddy and Polly trying to teach their father about 2009 life.
Ali Sparkes
Ali Sparkes is a British author. Her books include The Shapeshifter series, Miganium , Dark Summer, Frozen in Time, Wishful thinking, the Monster Makers series, S.W.I.T.C.H series and one upcoming series: Unleashed: a spin-off of The Shapeshifter, centred on Lisa Hardman...
. It has won two Blue Peter
Blue Peter
Blue Peter is the world's longest-running children's television show, having first aired in 1958. It is shown on CBBC, both in its BBC One programming block and on the CBBC channel. During its history there have been many presenters, often consisting of two women and two men at a time...
awards. Set in Britain 2009, the story researches cryonic suspension and life in 1956 Britain as well.
Plot
Ben and Rachel Corder are staying in their house with their dreary old uncle when the TV satelliteSatellite
In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....
breaks and the TV
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
explodes. Unable to do anything to amuse themselves, Ben and Rachel start digging in the garden and find themselves opening a hatch. They drop themselves into it and find themselves in what looks like an old-fashioned underground house. They find a what looks like a torpedo
Torpedo
The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...
and are shocked to see two dead bodies in it. Rachel accidentally presses a button and suddenly the hatch opens and the bodies come to life. Rachel faints and Ben starts talking gibberish in his shock. The two people that had before seemed dead introduced themselves as Freddy and Polly Emerson and asked why they were in their fathers' vault. When Rachel and Ben explained, they first refused to believe it, but then believed when Rachel and Ben took them into their house. Freddy and Polly revealed they had been put into cryonic suspension - their father had stopped their hearts and was able to make them start again. Freddy and Polly had been put to sleep in 1956 and woke up in 2009. They couldn't understand why their father had deserted them.
In time, Rachel and Ben introduce them to 2009, and Freddy and Polly are frequently shocked. They get sent to school (under the name Robertson, in case there's anyone old enough on the school staff to remember) and try to research what happened to their father. A cheerful librarian
Librarian
A librarian is an information professional trained in library and information science, which is the organization and management of information services or materials for those with information needs...
gives them documents.
One day, Rachel reads an email
Email
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
sent to her by her uncle saying "Get out of the house now!!!You are in danger we hope you disobey our rules we will come to the house to investigate. " Ben and Freddy, who had been escaping bullies, come back to see Rachel and Polly being drugged and thrown into the boot of the car. Ben knocks a man out with a camera
Camera
A camera is a device that records and stores images. These images may be still photographs or moving images such as videos or movies. The term camera comes from the camera obscura , an early mechanism for projecting images...
and runs to the librarian, who had been planning the whole thing. She had suspected Freddy and Polly's real identity and wanted to know about the cryonic suspension and how it worked. Ben eventually gets drugged too and thrown into the car also. The car drives away and Rachel wakes up to see Polly being taken out of the car to be boarded onto a helicopter . She finds a torch
Torch
A torch is a fire source, usually a rod-shaped piece of wood with a rag soaked in pitch and/or some other flammable material wrapped around one end. Torches were often supported in sconces by brackets high up on walls, to throw light over corridors in stone structures such as castles or crypts...
, picks the lock of the boot with a hairgrip and sprays antiseptic
Antiseptic
Antiseptics are antimicrobial substances that are applied to living tissue/skin to reduce the possibility of infection, sepsis, or putrefaction...
into the librarians' eyes. They then get taken to a place where the people know all about the cryonic suspension, but wanted to help them. Freddy and Polly are reunited with their father, who had put himself into cryonic suspension. The story ends with Freddy and Polly trying to teach their father about 2009 life.