Blue Peter Book of the Year

Frozen in Time by Ali Sparkes (OUP), has been named Blue Peter Book of the Year at this year's Blue Peter Book Awards. The novel, winner in the Book I Couldn't Put Down category, saw off competition from Dinkin Dings and Frightening Things by Guy Bass and Pete Williamson (Stripes - Most Fun Story with Pictures) and Why Eating Bogeys Is Good for You by Mitchell Symons (Red Fox - Best Book with Facts).

I'm really delighted that Frozen in Time has won...this is what I said in issue 41 of Carousel


Frozen in Time written by Ali Sparkes, OUP 978-0-19-272755-8 £5.99
Ben and Rachel are resigned to a quiet and dull summer spent with their absent minded uncle Jerome whilst their parents are off on tour. So in the best Enid Blyton tradition there are no interfering adults to spoil the fun. Whilst fooling around in the overgrown garden they find a hidden vault containing (wait for it) the frozen bodies of a girl and a boy. Rachel accidentally hits a button and the excitement begins. The story is mainly set in 2009 but with flashbacks to 1956 and 2007. Plots galore: spies, scientists and secrets. But this book is something more than an exciting read. The two frozen children, Polly and Freddy, wake up and have to face life in 2009 and Ali Sparkes cleverly shows the changes over fifty odd years in both speech and styles. This book will undoubtedly appeal to children but I think adults who were children during the fifties will find it fascinating too. enid stephenson