Tom Nalesnik

Who's Whom, Ben? Tom Nalesnik

"Who's Whom, Ben?" is a crossover time travel/romantic adventure/parody that pairs Benjamin Franklin with real-life historical traveling companion Caty Ray in a quest to save a distant world from environmental disaster, while keeping the fabric of time intact so the American Revolution wouldn't lose one of its key Founding Fathers. While conducting his famous lightning experiment, Ben unexpectedly finds himself transported to the 21st century, which is just the start of a series of odd and unusual experiences, including a visit to 1716 Boston, when Ben discovers his 10-year-old self has disappeared from history. Something isn't right - and Franklin is the only one who can fix it! Throughout the story, Ben also finds himself wrestling with his own sense of identity. Ben and Caty's travels are made possible by a garishly multicolored "police phone booth," straight out of the 1960s, with the power to take them forward and backward in time. Their destinations include present-day Harvard University; the Tower of London in 18th century England; an elementary school in New Jersey; and a planet on the other side of the galaxy that's about to embark on a massive electrification experiment destined to fail on a global scale. They encounter mind-reading green aliens; foil a plot to blow up the House of Lords; mingle with tourists in contemporary Boston; are chased by guards through the Tower of London; and in a big climactic scene, risk their own lives on a mission to see first-hand the catastrophic meltdown of the green people's planet.