Running Out of Time (novel)

Running Out of Time
Author(s)	Margaret Peterson Haddix
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre(s)	Young adult novel
Publisher	Simon & Schuster
Publication date	1995
Media type	Print (Hardback)
Pages	184 pp
ISBN	0-689-80084-3
OCLC Number	32313823
LC Classification	PZ7.H1164 Ru 1995

Running Out of Time is a novel by Margaret Peterson Haddix.

Plot summary

Jessie Keyser is a 13-year-old girl from the village of Clifton, Indiana in the 1840s. During a village-wide bout of diphtheria, Jessie's mother reveals that the actual year is 1996, and that Clifton Village is actually a tourist attraction, a replica of a historical village. She secretly sends Jessie out of the village with a pair of jeans and t-shirt to retrieve a cure for the disease from a man who disagreed on having Clifton as a tourist attraction, Mr. Neeley. But Jessie has to be careful because there are a few guards that have to make sure that no one from Clifton leaves and finds out that it is really 1996 and not 1840. Miles Clifton was the creator of Clifton.

Jessie had to go underground to be able to leave and was almost caught by the guards and almost lost her package with her food and $20 . She had to go to a restroom and stay there overnight, until she was able to leave the area where the tourists come. She couldn't stand out because then people would realize that she is from 1840 Clifton. Jessie is often confused at the technological advancements of the modern world. After meeting with Neeley at a Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) in Waverly, Indiana, she returns with him to his apartment, where Neeley attempts to drug her so he can kill her. Jessie overhears Neeley saying that she knows too much about the outside world. She manages to escape through a window in his apartment.

Jessie convinces local newspapers and radio stations to attend a news conference on the steps of the Capitol building. When the media arrives, Jessie attempts to explain the situation, but faints due to diphtheria. The diphtheria was able to get to Jessie before she was able to get out of Clifton. The "news conference" causes Clifton Village to close; it was revealed that Miles Clifton was allowing Frank Lyle (a scientist and the business partner of Miles Clifton) and others to use his village to try to create a stronger human gene pool of people able to resist diseases without the aid of medicine.

Jessie awakens in a hospital, where she learns that the real Mr. Neeley had died, the person she met was actually Frank Lyle. She leaves her hospital room and finds him talking about the diphtheria outbreak in the Clifton Village. She discovers that several other members of the Clifton Village have been brought to the hospital. Her parents are not among those who were arrested, but they have to convince the authorities that they didn't put any of their six children in danger. Jessie's mother is allowed to visit Jessie in the hospital and explains that her father still believes in the life of 19th century. But she gets to live in 1996 after Clifton Village closes.

Plagiarism allegation

Simon & Schuster, publishers of the 1995 young adults' book Running Out of Time by Margaret Peterson Haddix, claimed that the film The Village had stolen ideas from the book. The film had a plot which features a village whose inhabitants choose to live in a manner reminiscent of that of the 1800s when the year is actually 2004. The film also includes a young female protagonist who escapes the village in order to acquire medical supplies.

External links

• "Running Out of Time" review by Layla AbdelRahim
• Margaret Peterson Haddix official author Web site