Running Out of Time (novel)

Running Out of Time is a young adult historical fiction novel written by Margaret Peterson Haddix, published in 1995. The story centers around thirteen-year-old India "Indy" Westing, who lives in the 1840s pioneer village of Clifton, Indiana.

The narrative unfolds when a mysterious illness, identified as diphtheria, begins to spread rapidly through Clifton. Indy's mother, a doctor, tasks Indy with a perilous mission: to escape Clifton and journey to the outside world to obtain medicine.

What Indy doesn't know is that Clifton isn't a real 1840s town. It's a historical reenactment village built in the 1990s, and the children living there are completely unaware of modern society. The "diphtheria" outbreak is a manufactured event meant to study how people react to such a crisis.

Indy must navigate the shock of discovering the 20th century while racing against the clock to save her family and community from the staged epidemic, a scenario complicated by those who want to maintain the illusion and prevent her from revealing the truth about Clifton.

The novel explores themes of deception, societal control, the ethics of scientific research, and the importance of truth and family bonds. It is noted for its plot twist reveal and Indy's resourceful nature in dealing with the jarring transition from a perceived 19th-century existence to the modern world.