Frozen in Time

Notes:

“Things aren't what they used to be” is the traditional complaint of your grandparents, bemoaning the lack of respect by “young people nowadays” and the fact that everything's more expensive than it used to be. Of course everyone agrees that many things in our society are less than perfect. (Although everyone doesn't agree on how to go about improving those things). But there's a definite temptation to view the past through rose-tinted spectacles, seeing it in a golden light which plays up the glory of bygone days and plays down the problems which have, perhaps, been overcome by technological progress or through a general change in outlook.

This story, in its lightweight way, looks into this contrast of old and new with a dose of realism and a sense of humour. The basic plot belongs to the “Children's TV Saturday Adventure” school of storytelling. The characters, mostly young teenagers, are bas-relief but engaging. The ending is a bit too neat and a bit too quick. But it's a book aimed at pre-teenagers (the back cover has a 9+ label) and its qualities aren't in its literary weight but in the contrast it draws between our society and that of 50 years ago.

It's pretty much a staple of time-travel stories (of which genre this story is an honorary member) that the 5th-dimensional travellers step out of their capsule or whatever and are amazed by the contrast between what they know and what they see now. And the “locals” are likewise amazed by the different attitudes of the new arrivals. This all works whether the visitors come from the past and so are amazed by technological advances; or from the future and are delighted by the lack of pollution and a simpler way of life. In this case Polly and Freddy, newly awakened from the 1950s, have a ready-made pair of guides in the shape of their great-nephew and -niece. It's to the story's credit that neither does it just wow the 20th century kids with the technology of the 21st, nor does it simply bewail the more consumerist and less dignified way of life which the 21st century has brought about.

What it does do is to gently show the two sets of children that each way of life has its advantages. Unsurprisingly, perhaps, Polly has the hardest task in adjusting to life as a 21st century just-teenage girl. She's used to dressing neatly and modestly, not eating as she walks, doing the washing-up and ironing for her brother, and she's a member of the Famous Five club. She's appalled by Rachel's Sweet magazine with its lurid cover, frank discussions of body image, and advice about snogging. And by the family's slapdash approach to household management. And further by the behaviour of the school bullies at the children's co-ed school. But it's not all one way: she stands up for herself, briskly organises Rachel into cleaning and cooking, and gives a school bully a taste of her own medicine.

Freddy has it easier as boys' attitudes have changed less in the intervening 50 years. He astounds the class (and the teacher) by standing politely when the headmaster enters the room, but can stand up for himself in the playground and proves to be adept on roller skates (in a scene which makes him appreciate the 21st century's smoother road surfaces). He's the first to suffer the side-effects of long-term cryosleep but makes the others promise to keep quiet about it so as not to alarm his sister. He and Polly, once over their initial shock, face up to life in the 21st century bravely, accepting what they have to accept while to some extent challenging attitudes and ideas which to them seem wrong.

The 21st century youngsters are obviously on home ground, but admire the courage of their older relatives and tacitly recognise the justice behind some aspects of their old-fashioned shock. Rachel forces Polly to teach the boys how to iron their own shirts, but is shamefaced when Polly points out how dirty and disorganised their kitchen is. And she persuades the older girl to teach her how to make a cooked meal, a real contrast to the family's usual microwaved convenience diet. This is both a graceful move to help Polly feel more comfortable and a recognition of the value of the properly-prepared meal. It's clear that it's the 1950s kids who are going to have to make more adjustments in their outlook, but the traffic is not entirely in one direction.

One episode illustrates this quite well: the children decide to go on a picnic by bicycle. Freddy & Polly unearth their 1950s bikes from under some sacking in the garage. The bikes are usable (if old-fashioned) but Polly's carrier basket is mouldy with age. Rachel, child of a consumerist society, is all for throwing it away. But Polly insists that it just needs some soap and water. Rachel provides a 21st century alternative: an antibacterial cleaning spray, which impresses Polly and speeds up the cleaning process. As they cycle off, the older bikes with their thinner tyres on 21st century tarmac easily outstrip the newer bikes, and the 20th youngsters are fitter than their 21st counterparts. But as they enter the woodland where they're going to picnic, Polly and Freddy have to get off and push while Rachel and Ben's chunky tyres and many gears mean they can freewheel.

Unfortunately, the story also starts to freewheel here a little, as the author exploits the comedy value of having Polly & Freddy confronted by the cost of bottled water, lip-studs, junk food, the internet, Rachel's slutty Chatz doll and other fruits of our age. There is a thin plot which keeps the story moving forward, resolving itself by a series of action set-pieces which are fairly effective and have the children defending themselves violently from real danger just as the damaging side-effects of the cryosleep manifest themselves the most. (The children's fingernails have already started to fall out and they are coughing blood. But here Freddy is rendered briefly blind and Ben has to defend them both).

The final scenes are a little too neat, but — ironically, perhaps — the book smacks more of the 1950s attitudes it gently parodies than of the grittier tales which are produced for modern youth.