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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 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. She had to go to a rest room 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.[|Summery from Wikipedia]

What I liked: In the book, //Running Out of Time,// I liked how quickly the book moves getting in to the good part as fast as it does. The author makes her character so blatantly unadapted to the present. She doesn't have Jessie adjust in the first few chapters so she, the author, can do things that are more modern, and not have to watch her writing as closely. Margaret Haddix keeps the same writing style throughout out the entire book to the end and that makes the book more realistic. What I found lacking: The only down side that I see with this book is that there is not any combat. The lack of combat (for me) makes it seem too easy for her to accomplish the feat of escaping. Overall thoughts: thumbs up.

Rating: Five stars