Hannah+M.

= //Running Out of Time// by: Margaret Peterson ﻿ Haddix  =

//Running Out of Time//, by Margaret Peterson Haddix grabs hold of you and never lets go. Weeks after reading, this novel still brings questions to mind. Some of them do, and some don't have an answer. I loved the way the author made the characters and the reality of life or death become real, and the character's emotions become your emotions, through her use of metaphoric language and personification.

In this science fiction book, the science element comes through as a priority over human life for the scientists conducting an "experiment". The scientists are using real people to conduct a gene experiment, killing off the weakest and having a gene pool with the strongest, because they think that medicine is weakening the human race, and they want to strengthen it at the risk of human lives. A major theme in this book is that people do the things they do because of their priorities. The author's style reflects the theme of this book and encourages thought on the part of the reader. Margaret uses thoughts of the characters to inspire your thoughts; she turns cars into witchcraft and security cameras into stalkers through the eye of her character who has never seen modern day things before. I love the way she does this.

The setting of the story is in Clifton village in 1996 that reenacts life in the 1800s for tourists. When the village started, Jessie's (Jessie is the main character) parents volunteered to be in it along with several others. They would live as if they were in 1840. When their children were 13, they were supposed to be able to tell them the truth and give them the choice to leave. They were also supposed to be able to have modern medicine whenever they got sick, but slowly it disappeared and almost all exits to Clifton Village were cut off. The scientists finally introduced diphtheria so that they could start making the gene pool. They didn't give them medicine. Jessie is sent to get help and because of her priorities, she goes. She is brave for her family and ultimately realizes the difference between bravery and bravado. She gets tricked, then escapes and calls a news conference broadcasting to the world, and Clifton's men that she is there all because of her priority of her family over herself. Hannah, Jessie's sister who is usually more cautious, trips a Clifton man who comes into their village after the news conference and helps the resisters. The scientists do every thing in there power to cut off anything that might get medicine to the town. They have control and they like to use it to get what they want.

In this book different characters have different priorities that define what they do and also determine the plot. The author wants to use this to make the reader think about their priorities, and it really does make you think. What would you be willing to give for fame and money? What would I? Haddix also uses foreshadowing wonderfully well. At the very end of the book Haddix states, "Jessie was still scared, but she felt better. She stood and jumped off the rock, letting the wind puff out her skirt. It was frightening, plunging through empty air, but she believed she'd land safely." What does that tell you? This book can intrigue, can question, and can explain. These are reasons I would read this book.

I would recommend this book to anyone who can appreciate the bravery of a girl who is willing to do anything for her family and friends and to whom bravery instead of bravado has to be struggled for. This is a masterpiece of a first novel by Margaret Peterson Haddix.

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