Polar Switch is a fictional story about a family of unique individuals living on a one-of-a-kind island in the frigid waters of the Southern Indian Ocean. The island and it's inhabitants were discovered in the early part of the 20th century by Ernest Shackleton while he was exploring Antartica. Inhabitants of the island were so enamored with Shackleton, they named the island the Shack and themselves, Shackers.
What makes the Shack so unique is the fact that it is made of a thick form of plasma, which supports the growth of amino acids that are consumed by the Shackers. Shackers are not human, but they think and act just like humans. They have homes, cities, government and schools. Their homes are called Branches and these branches can support more than one family. Branches can store amino acids (called AAs) and provide a sort of communication network (like WiFi) that allows Shackers to coordinate their vision.
Vision is another unique feature of Shackers. Each Shacker has eyes with a fixed focal point, allowing each individual to see only a limited range of distance. Some can see only close up and others can see only far away objects. They can share vision on a branch, school, city hall, etc. allowing each to have a full range of vision in these environments.
Shackleton supports the Shackers with knowledge, technology and wisdom until the very day he dies. Soon, the Shack becomes unknown to anyone again and many would like to keep it that way. Others know that the Shack will eventually be rediscovered anyway and see that as a benefit.
Indeed, the Shack is rediscovered--rediscovered by the great-grandson of Sir Ernest. Ty Shackleton has heard family stories about the Shack and sets out to find the island and continue his great-grandfather's work. Ty, a professor at Cambridge University, assembles a cracker-jack team of scientists from various universities around the world, and discovers the island and one of it's leading families.
The Alexanders, Mom, Dad and four children become the contact point for Ty and form a deep and everlasting relationship with Ty and members of his team. Together, they encounter other Shacker bad actors, allowing the Alexanders to gain prominence and positive influence on the Shack.
In Part 2, two of the kids, Joey, a middle school student and Neon, a college student decide to return with Ty to Cambridge in an effort to learn more about the world. Meanwhile, Aurora, the mother, becomes a driving force to create a constitution for the Shack.
The remaining kids, Harry and the younger Hazard (appropriately named) become involved in a plot by the North Koreans to steal the Shack's valuable plasma for alternative energy use. They and two other adventurous friends get sucked into a huge storage tank on a North Korean freighter where they must battle their way out and return the stolen plasma.
Ty, Joey, Neon and Ty's team begin by introducing their special guests to elements of university student society and of life in the rest of the world. During this process, the two young Shackers are kidnapped by a greedy Russian who wants to take advantage of the Shackers unique benefits. With help from Scotland Yard and some Russian protagonists, Ty and his team rescue the two and return to Cambridge, all wiser about how life can be.
Neon and Joey want to figure out how they and the Shack came to be. This effort is tried by boarding a specially equipped ship and sailing to several islands near the north pole. The group, now tightly knit, encounter disappointment, injury and scientific quandaries. They also discover an ancient civilization and a possible answer to their question about their origin.
Upon returning to the Shack, their futures as well as futures of other Shackers become clear.
