Jessie is growing up in 1840 in Clifton, Indiana. She spends her days like all the other kids in the frontier village; she goes to school and does chores. Lately a lot of kids have been missing from school because of illness. One night, Jessie's mother takes her along to help a nearby child who is sick. Her mom seems distressed when they leave, and she asks Jessie to meet her in the woods the next day after school and not to say anything about the meeting. To Jessie’s surprise, her mother tells her that although she thinks it's 1840, it's really 1996. She quickly explains that the adults in the village agreed to live like it's the 1840s, and people come from all over to watch their town through special mirrors and viewing stations. None of this makes sense to Jessie, but she listens carefully as questions fill her brain. Her mom explains that a terrible illness is making the children of Clifton Village sick, and they need medicine from the outside world. Jessie is sent from the village on a dangerous mission to get the medicine, and she must hurry. There will be many obstacles on the way, and her mom doesn’t have time to tell her everything. Although it will be extremely risky, Jessie agrees to try to find help. How different will life be in 1996 from the life she has known? How will she find the man her mom asked her to contact? She can’t let anyone know that she's from Clifton Village, but will she be able to blend in with the jeans and t-shirt her mother gave her? You will have to read this thriller to find out what awaits Jessie outside the Clifton Village Tourist Center and how she deals with a world where everything is foreign and most definitely frightening. I have long been a fan of Margaret Peterson Haddix and her books. I was excited to read Running Out of Time, which came out in 1994. My heart went out to Jessie as she came to the conclusion that she had been living a lie. I could not even imagine finding out that I was living in a world in which tourists were paying to watch me! All the times she thought she was alone and she wasn’t! Plus, it would be hard to adjust to a world that was over 100 years away from the life you are currently living. The book really got me thinking about the past, the present, and the future. Jessie is definitely someone that I would want to be friends with because she is caring and brave. I think this is a great book for kids who enjoy stories that take them by surprise, because Jessie has a lot to learn when she enters the 1990s. I recommend this book to kids in fourth grade and up, especially those who have an interest in either historical fiction for dystopian books because it is a mix of both. This book will have you hoping for more time!
Did you ever wonder how it would be to live in the past? Running of Time is historical fiction. I think this book was great the way the author explains the character's personality and the setting.This book is mostly about this girl named Jessie living in a village named Clifton in the 1800's. But when she finds out diphtheria has gone out through her family she has to go outside the village to save her family from the disease. Jessie wanted to save her family from the disease, but when she finds out how hard it is to fit in the outside of the village..it becomes a big problem. The conflict of the story is person vs society because Jessie goes through lots of obstacles in order to help her family get medicine for the disease and meets people who get in her way and try to stop her.I like how the author describes the main character (Jessie) as in her way of confusion and frustration. ***SPOILER ALERT*** A major event that changed the character was when she faints close to the ending of the book and wakes up in a hospital finding out she has diphtheria, just like her friends back in Clifton. I was surprised when Jessie was being helped by a man but then finds out he is trying to kill to her because she knows too much about the outside world. I can relate to the character, Jessie, because I also get confused when I go over peoples' houses and I don't know how to work certain stuff. I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars because I really liked the way the author describes the characters in the book such as Jessie and her mother. I would recommend this book to people who like historical fiction and books about the past. Just imagine your reaction if you ever think you live in a time period that is normal for you but not for others...
This is probably one of my favourite books ever. I love the innovative idea behind it, the pace (which is FAST), and the drama.Basically, it's the story of a girl who lives in a village in the 1800s. Only it's not really the 1800s. It's a kind of living museum and none of the children know that. Except something's gone wrong and they're all trapped. Jesse escapes and on her own and has to move through this strange modern world to find help for her village.The only thing I can think of to complain about is that it's sorted as a "science fiction- dystopia". It's really not. For those who don't know, dystopia means a society that looks utopian, or perfect, but isn't. Famous examples are 1984 by George Orwell or the Hunger Games series. Guys, Jesse is running about in our own society, which the author is absolutely not going out of her way to criticise. Eventually, only a few people are responsible for the tragedies in Clifton, Indiana. I think one thing that I like about it as a teenager is that it's NOT a dystopian book but still manages to create that high-tension atmosphere. It also has elements of historical fiction, which is my favourite genre, adventure, and mystery.I like that the book is short. The author keeps the pace very brisk but there's still time to develop Jesse and really have her observe our world. It's easy to read being in the 9-12 category but it's still very enjoyable for adults and teenagers.I read a lot of books when I was a kid. This is one of the ones that I keep going back to again and again.
—Emma Louise
Running out of timeIt is 1840 year in small village of Clifton was a children who are dying from an outbreak of diphtheria. Parents don’t have any medicine, to save poor, sorrowful , helpless children. Without medicine is impossible save them and unless help comes soon, a whole generation will be wiped out. tPoor children name was Jessie, whose mother knows how to cure them, but than her mother need to discover the Jessie’s secret, who is weary dark and dangerous which lies behind Clifton and all its people. tOne day Jessie climbed to the top of the King of the Mountains rock, but then she sat down and pulling her knees against her chest, but she didn’t have her full strength back after the sickness, and her legs shiver a little from burden. But I think book will be about how to spend time. How spend time several peoples. Maybe there can be a suggestion about how spend time when nothing to do. I wasn’t be wary interested to read this book because, I meant to get very different information. I don’t like when is story about something bad. I fell wary bad. I fell how they fell then, I want cry. But I really like this one sentences. “She stood and jumped of de rock, letting the wind puff out her skirts. It was frightening, plunging through the empty air, but she believed she’d land safely.
—Laura
In this novel, the prtagonist, Jessie, must escape the sheltered 1800's-like community she grew up in and enter the the real world of 1996 in order to get medical help for her family and friends back home. The community Jessie lives in has been controlled by a group of people experimenting with preventable diseases, which reeks havoc in town.Haddix uses role reversal as a way to develop her main character, Jessie, who steps into the role of protector of the family, replacing her Ma and Pa. In fact, Jessie's father seems none existent except for a few moments in the book when Jessie interacts with him for a few smiles, but by the end of the novel Pa is suffering from a mental breakdown. In comparison, Ma seems to run the family, but submits herself to Jessie to save the family and the town they live in. Therefore Jessie has effectively taken on the role of "parent" to her own parents.While I appreciate the idea behind Margaret Haddix's novel, overall I was unimpressed with it as a Young Adult novel, and as an adult found this novel too easy to read. However, it does have some tense moments, which is why I can recommend "Running Out of Time" by Margaret Peterson Haddix as a started novel for anyone just entering the Young Adult genre. This novel has been named an ALA Best Book for Young Adults.
—Elisa
