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* DeadPersonImpersonation: Jess is told to find Isaac Neeley, a man who can get the cure for diphtheria. [[spoiler:Frank Lyle finds out that Jessie ran away, and breaks into Neeley's house when his family is away]].
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* DeadPersonImpersonation: Jess Jessie is told to find Isaac Neeley, a man who opposed the formation of Clifton and can expose the diphtheria epidemic to the public and the media, and hopefully force Clifton's men to get treatment for the cure for diphtheria. [[spoiler:Frank sick kids. [[spoiler:However, Isaac Neeley died sometime in the decade between Mrs. Keyser losing all access to the outside world and the time of the story. Frank Lyle finds found out that who Jessie ran away, and breaks into Neeley's house was aiming to contact when his henchman bumped into her and saw the paper with his name and phone number on it, so he broke into the house of the family is away]].who now had the number so he'd be the one to answer her call]].
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* DeadPersonImpersonation: Jess is told to find Isaac Neeley, a man who can get the cure for diphtheria. [[spoiler:Frank Lyle finds out that Jessie ran away, and breaks into Neeley's house when his family is away]].
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* InnocentBigot: When Jessie gets to the outside world, she meets Nicole, a black girl, and briefly considers commenting on how surprisingly smart she is and asking her what it's like to be a "Negro." Fortunately she doesn't get a chance to actually say it.
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* GoneHorriblyRight: Jessie is told to wear her mother's clothes and blend in until she finds the man in charge of the experiment. This means that she has a hard time proving her claims on learning the BigBad [[spoiler:was infecting the children on purpose]].
* InnocentBigot: When Jessie gets to the outside world, she meets Nicole, a black girl, and briefly considers commenting on how surprisingly smart she is and asking her what it's like to be a "Negro."Fortunately Fortunately, she doesn't get a chance to actually say it.
* InnocentBigot: When Jessie gets to the outside world, she meets Nicole, a black girl, and briefly considers commenting on how surprisingly smart she is and asking her what it's like to be a "Negro."
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* PostVictoryCollapse: Subverted; Jessie collapses in the middle of reciting a Clifton lesson, but it serves the same purpose: the journalists realize she's ill and they all believe her.
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** Jessie finds out that the real Isaac Neeley [[spoiler:died several years ago. Of course, her mother didn't know because none of the adults are allowed outside information, especially when it would be pertinent to helping escape the situation]].
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* RealityEnsues:
** As a result of being around sick kids and lacking access to modern antibiotics, [[spoiler:Jesse contracts diphtheria. The journalists interviewing her for a press conference get her to the hospital after she faints]].
** After Jessie [[spoiler:exposes the masquerade and is hospitalized for diphtheria, her parents and all the other adults are investigated on charges of child neglect and emotional abuse. One journalist points out that it was a huge burden for Jessie's mother to expect Jessie to carry the mission of notifying adults about the epidemic, though Jessie protests that her mother no longer fit into those clothes. Some parents are arrested, like Mr. Seward, but Jessie's parents are cleared and allowed to retain custody of their kids, provided that her dad goes to a therapist]].
** As a result of being around sick kids and lacking access to modern antibiotics, [[spoiler:Jesse contracts diphtheria. The journalists interviewing her for a press conference get her to the hospital after she faints]].
** After Jessie [[spoiler:exposes the masquerade and is hospitalized for diphtheria, her parents and all the other adults are investigated on charges of child neglect and emotional abuse. One journalist points out that it was a huge burden for Jessie's mother to expect Jessie to carry the mission of notifying adults about the epidemic, though Jessie protests that her mother no longer fit into those clothes. Some parents are arrested, like Mr. Seward, but Jessie's parents are cleared and allowed to retain custody of their kids, provided that her dad goes to a therapist]].
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* ThereAreNoTherapists: Played straight in the village, as the 1840's weren't swimming with psychatrists. [[spoiler: Averted in the end when Jessie's dad is required to attend therapy to deal with his denial of reality.]]
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* ThereAreNoTherapists: Played straight in the village, as the 1840's weren't swimming with psychatrists.psychiatrists. [[spoiler: Averted in the end when Jessie's dad is required to attend therapy to deal with his denial of reality.]]
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''Running Out of Time'', not to be confused with [[Music/OzzyOsbourne the song]] or the film, is a 1995 ScienceFiction {{young adult}} novel by Creator/MargaretPetersonHaddix.
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[[quoteright:324:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/running_out_of_time_haddix.png]]
''Running Out ofTime'', not to be confused with [[Music/OzzyOsbourne the song]] or the film, Time'' is a 1995 ScienceFiction {{young adult}} novel by Creator/MargaretPetersonHaddix.
Creator/MargaretPetersonHaddix. It is [[SimilarlyNamedWorks not related to]] either the Music/OzzyOsbourne song or the 1999 [[Film/RunningOutOfTime film]] by the Hong Kong director Creator/JohnnieTo.
''Running Out of
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Crosswicking.
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* CoolClearWater: Jessie, feeling thirsty after escaping from the fake 1840's village, stops to take a drink from water flowing through a ditch. An environmentalist stops her in time, telling her that, despite the water's pristine appearance, it's nowhere near safe to drink.
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''Running Out of Time'', not to be confused with [[Music/OzzyOsbourne the song]] or the film, is a 1995 ScienceFiction {{young adult}} novel by Margaret Peterson Haddix.
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''Running Out of Time'', not to be confused with [[Music/OzzyOsbourne the song]] or the film, is a 1995 ScienceFiction {{young adult}} novel by Margaret Peterson Haddix.
Creator/MargaretPetersonHaddix.
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!!!Tropes used by the novel:
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* SomethingOnlyTheyWouldSay: The reporters at Jessie's press conference can't prove her story of a diphtheria epidemic, but they can prove she's a Clifton child: they ask her to recite all the Presidents, states, and capitals, like she would in the schoolroom.
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* SomethingOnlyTheyWouldSay: The reporters at Jessie's press conference can't prove her story of a diphtheria epidemic, but they can prove she's a Clifton child: they ask her to recite all the Presidents, states, and capitals, like she would in the schoolroom. She promptly faints from diphtheria, proving that, too.
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Rumors exist that ''TheVillage'' is inspired by this. For the trope that means "running out of time", see RaceAgainstTheClock.
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Rumors exist that ''TheVillage'' ''Film/TheVillage'' is inspired by this. For the trope that means "running out of time", see RaceAgainstTheClock.
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moving to YMMV
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* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: As a large part of the plot is Jessie learning about the future[[spoiler: present]], the book is riddled with 90's charm. Clothing, prices, cars--nearly everything Jessie encounters is so ''very'' 90's.
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* ThereAreNoTherapists: Played straight in the village, as the 1840's weren't swimming with psychatrists. [[spoiler: Subverted in the end when Jessie's dad is required to attend therapy to deal with his denial of reality.]]
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* ThereAreNoTherapists: Played straight in the village, as the 1840's weren't swimming with psychatrists. [[spoiler: Subverted Averted in the end when Jessie's dad is required to attend therapy to deal with his denial of reality.]]
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* TherearenoTherapists: Played straight in the village, as the 1840's weren't swimming with psychatrists. [[spoiler: Subverted in the end when Jessie's dad is required to attend therapy to deal with his denial of reality.]]
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* TherearenoTherapists: ThereAreNoTherapists: Played straight in the village, as the 1840's weren't swimming with psychatrists. [[spoiler: Subverted in the end when Jessie's dad is required to attend therapy to deal with his denial of reality.]]
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* AdultsareUseless: The only adults around are A) unable to help, B) so far into denial/fear that they can't see the problem to help, or C) actively causing TheMasquerade.
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* AdultsareUseless: AdultsAreUseless: The only adults around are A) unable to help, B) so far into denial/fear that they can't see the problem to help, or C) actively causing TheMasquerade.
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pimping Not So Remote
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* NotSoRemote: And how! From an isolated little village on the frontier to ''inside a tourist center''.
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* AdultsareUseless: The only adults around are A) unable to help, B) so far into denial/fear that they can't see the problem to help, or C) actively causing TheMasquerade.
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* BrainyBrunette: Jessie laments that she's not pretty like her sister Hannah, but she's the smartest student in school. [[spoiler: This is a part of the reason that Ma chooses Jessie, and not Hannah, to escape the village.]]
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* TherearenoTherapists: Played straight in the village, as the 1840's weren't swimming with psychatrists. [[spoiler: Subverted in the end when Jessie's dad is required to attend therapy to deal with his denial of reality.]]
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* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: As a large part of the plot is Jessie learning about the future[[spoiler: present]], the book is riddled with 90's charm. Clothing, prices, cars--nearly everything Jessie encounters is so ''very'' 90's.
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** When Jessie's Ma admits that this was a really terrible thing to do to her children, Jessie tries to comfort her by saying, "You always did tell us God saw everything we did." Mrs. Keyser laughs and says that was something they deliberately emphasized. "Would you have behaved better if we said 'God and a bunch of strangers you've never met?'"
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* WhatWouldXDo: Jessie's older sister, Hannah. When Clifton's men hold the school hostage, she thinks "What would Jessie do?" and trips Mr. Seward, the schoolteacher, so that he drops his gun. His son, Chester, who Jessie was teasing her about having a crush on, picks it up and refuses to give it back, because he'll use it to hurt Hannah. Chester Seward marches his father outside of the schoolhouse and into police custody.
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* WhatWouldXDo: Jessie's older sister, Hannah. When Clifton's men hold the school hostage, she thinks "What would Jessie do?" and trips Mr. Seward, the schoolteacher, Seward so that he drops his gun. His son, Chester, who Jessie was teasing her about having a crush on, picks it up and refuses to give it back, because he'll use it to hurt Hannah. Chester Seward marches his father outside of the schoolhouse and into police custody.
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* InnocentBigot: When Jessie gets to the outside world, she meets a black girl and briefly considers commenting on how surprisingly smart she is and asking her what it's like to be a "Negro." Fortunately she doesn't get a chance to actually say it.
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* InnocentBigot: When Jessie gets to the outside world, she meets Nicole, a black girl girl, and briefly considers commenting on how surprisingly smart she is and asking her what it's like to be a "Negro." Fortunately she doesn't get a chance to actually say it.it.
** Less innocent are the people she recalls from Clifton during this. She's been told that "Negros" have skin that is "pure black and hair that is pure curl," and that they aren't as smart as white people-- something she immediately notes is untrue, because Nicole is very intelligent, and the only person who brings up the creepiness of the voyeurism. She also notes, upon seeing Nicole among white classmates, that "the abolitionists in Clifton" got their wish with slavery abolished-- which implies that there are ''anti-abolitionists'' (ie, people who support slavery) in Clifton.
** Less innocent are the people she recalls from Clifton during this. She's been told that "Negros" have skin that is "pure black and hair that is pure curl," and that they aren't as smart as white people-- something she immediately notes is untrue, because Nicole is very intelligent, and the only person who brings up the creepiness of the voyeurism. She also notes, upon seeing Nicole among white classmates, that "the abolitionists in Clifton" got their wish with slavery abolished-- which implies that there are ''anti-abolitionists'' (ie, people who support slavery) in Clifton.
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* WhatWouldXDo: Jessie's older sister, Hannah. When Clifton's men hold the school hostage, she thinks "What would Jessie do?" and trips Mr. Seward, the schoolteacher, so that he drops his gun. His son, Chester, who Jessie was teasing her about having a crush on, picks it up and refuses to give it back, because he'll use it to hurt Hannah. Chester Seward marches his father outside of the schoolhouse and into police custody.
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* SomethingOnlyTheyWouldSay: The reporters at Jessie's press conference can't prove her story of a diphtheria epidemic, but they can prove she's a Clifton child: they ask her to recite all the Presidents, states, and capitals, like she would in the schoolroom.
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* KidHero: Jesie, naturally. However, the trope is also [[{{Deconstruction}} deconstructed]] later on, by having someone bring into question what Jessie's mother was thinking when she snuck Jessie out of the town on her own to get help.
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* KidHero: Jesie, Jessie, naturally. However, the trope is also [[{{Deconstruction}} deconstructed]] later on, by having someone bring into question what Jessie's mother was thinking when she snuck Jessie out of the town on her own to get help. This infuriates Jessie, who reminds the reporter explaining this to her that she already told him why she went instead of the adults: they only had one change of clothes, and none of the adult women could fit into them after multiple pregnancies.
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* BornInTheWrongCentury: Jessie's dad is said to prefer 1840 to 1996, and therefore really enjoys his life in Clifton and has a hard time separating from it and going back to the present.
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* BornInTheWrongCentury: Jessie's dad is said to prefer 1840 to 1996, and therefore really enjoys his life a talented blacksmith in Clifton and has a hard time separating from it and an era where there is literally no use for one outside historical recreation villages like Clifton. [[spoiler:After things start going back to south in Clifton, he represses his knowledge of the present.modern day and sinks firmly into denial. At first, Jessie's mother believed his refusal to talk about their modern-day lives was him simply trying to protect her (he'd been beaten for Jessie poking around the cameras), but she comes to believe it's deeper than that and Joseph Keyser ends up having the hardest time readjusting]].
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* CannotTellFictionFromReality: [[spoiler:It's heavily implied that the reason Jessie's father joined the Clifton community in the first place and is so reluctant to leave it is because he has an untreated mental disorder.]]
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* CannotTellFictionFromReality: [[spoiler:It's heavily implied [[spoiler:Jessie's father wanted to join Clifton Village because he was a genuinely talented blacksmith from his time working in another historical village, but there was no real call for that in the 1980s. After he was beaten by Clifton's men because Jessie was poking around the cameras, he began repressing his knowledge of the outside world and wouldn't let his wife speak of it. At the end of the book, he's still so deeply in denial that he needs a therapist, who has agreed that the reason Jessie's father joined family living on the Clifton community in site while they ease into the first place and is so reluctant to leave it is because he has an untreated mental disorder.modern world would help.]]
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* KidHero: Jesie, naturally. However, the trope is also [[{{Deconstruction}} deconstructed]] later on, by having someone bring into question what Jessie's mother was thinking when she snuck Jessie out of the town on her own to get help.
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* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:The men responsible for the experiment are arrested and Jessie and her friends and family can look forward to living a new modern life in the present day, but some of the children did not survive the plague that prompted Jessie to leave the village in the first place.]]
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* ChekhovsGun - The fat environmentalist's comment about how you can't trust the water, referring to a ditch that Jessie was about to drink out of, [[spoiler: ends up saving her when she's given a glass of water with a sedative dissolved in it. She remembers talking to him and dumps the water out the window instead of drinking it.]]
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* ChekhovsGun - ChekhovsGun: The fat environmentalist's comment about how you can't trust the water, referring to a ditch that Jessie was about to drink out of, [[spoiler: ends up saving her when she's given a glass of water with a sedative dissolved in it. She remembers talking to him and dumps the water out the window instead of drinking it.]]
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* {{Masquerade}}: The adults who joined Clifton when it was founded obviously know the truth, but they raised their children to believe it was the 1840s. They were initially meant to explain everything to the kids once they were old enough to understand, but that ended up being forbidden before any of the children could find out. The odd anachronism, such as the word "okay," still manages to creep in, which does ''not'' please the men in charge.
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* {{Masquerade}}: The adults who joined Clifton when it was founded obviously know the truth, but they raised their children to believe it was the 1840s. They were initially meant to explain everything to the kids once they were old enough to understand, but that ended up being forbidden before any of the children could find out. The odd anachronism, such as the word "okay," words "okay" and "shut up", still manages manage to creep in, which does ''not'' please the men in charge.
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Jessie Keyser has lived 13 years thinking that she lives in a rural village called Clifton in 1840s Indiana. When her village is struck with a bout of diphtheria, her mother tells her the truth: The year is really 1996, and Clifton is nothing but a replica of a historic village, or a tourist attraction. Jessie is sent to go get the cure for diphtheria in secret in the outside world from a scientist named Mr. Neely. But Mr. Neely isn't going to let that happen.
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Jessie Keyser has lived 13 years thinking that she lives in a rural village called Clifton in 1840s Indiana. When her village is struck with a bout of diphtheria, her mother tells her the truth: The year is really 1996, and Clifton is nothing but a replica of a historic village, or a tourist attraction. Jessie is sent to go get the cure for diphtheria in secret in the outside world from a scientist named Mr. Neely. But Mr. Neely isn't going to let that happen.
something more dangerous is afoot when Jessie's search ends.
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No aversions.
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* InfantImmortality: [[spoiler:Averted. Two of the children die from the diphtheria.]]
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Rumors exist that ''TheVillage'' is an adaptation of this. For the trope that means "running out of time", see RaceAgainstTheClock.
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Rumors exist that ''TheVillage'' is an adaptation of inspired by this. For the trope that means "running out of time", see RaceAgainstTheClock.
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* EvilutionaryBiologist: Frank Lyle
* FishOutOfTemporalWater
* FishOutOfTemporalWater
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* EvilutionaryBiologist: Frank Lyle
Lyle, [[spoiler:whose reason for letting people get sick in the town was to strengthen the immune systems of the survivors.]]
*FishOutOfTemporalWaterFishOutOfTemporalWater: A non-literal form of this trope, as Jessie is not really from 1840, but from a strictly-run historical preserve. However, 1996 is completely alien to her.
*
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* PastRightNow
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* PastRightNowPastRightNow: The existence of the historical preserve, essentially a key aspect of the story.
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* [[HeKnowsTooMuch She Knows Too Much]]
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* [[HeKnowsTooMuch She Knows Too Much]]Much]]: Jessie's knowledge of what's happening in the town is reason enough for them to want to kill her.
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* WellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler:Frank Lyle.]]
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* WellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler:Frank Lyle.Lyle, who intended to strengthen humanity against diseases.]]
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* BornInTheWrongCentury
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* BornInTheWrongCenturyBornInTheWrongCentury: Jessie's dad is said to prefer 1840 to 1996, and therefore really enjoys his life in Clifton and has a hard time separating from it and going back to the present.
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Doesn\'t appear to be an example from how the trope is described. He\'s evil, not someone who manipulates others when no-one is looking.
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* BitchInSheepsClothing: [[spoiler:Mr. Neeley/Frank Lyle]]
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* InfantImmortality: [[spoiler:Averted. Two of the children die from the diphtheria.]]
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''Running Out of Time'', not to be confused with [[Music/OzzyOsbourne the song]] or the film, is a 1995 ScienceFiction {{young adult}} novel by Margaret Peterson Haddix.
Jessie Keyser has lived 13 years thinking that she lives in a rural village called Clifton in 1840s Indiana. When her village is struck with a bout of diphtheria, her mother tells her the truth: The year is really 1996, and Clifton is nothing but a replica of a historic village, or a tourist attraction. Jessie is sent to go get the cure for diphtheria in secret in the outside world from a scientist named Mr. Neely. But Mr. Neely isn't going to let that happen.
Rumors exist that ''TheVillage'' is an adaptation of this. For the trope that means "running out of time", see RaceAgainstTheClock.
----
!!!Tropes used by the novel:
* BigBrotherIsWatching: Since the tourists obviously can't interact with the villagers, [[PortraitPaintingPeephole special portraits of the President,]] trick mirrors, and similar tactics are used to let them observe from afar. At least one tourist has commented on how voyeuristic it all is, but the tour guides cheerfully explain that [[BlatantLies the villagers are aware of the surveillance and have all consented to it,]] so if no one has any further questions, we'll be moving right along...
* BitchInSheepsClothing: [[spoiler:Mr. Neeley/Frank Lyle]]
* BornInTheWrongCentury
* CannotTellFictionFromReality: [[spoiler:It's heavily implied that the reason Jessie's father joined the Clifton community in the first place and is so reluctant to leave it is because he has an untreated mental disorder.]]
* ChekhovsGun - The fat environmentalist's comment about how you can't trust the water, referring to a ditch that Jessie was about to drink out of, [[spoiler: ends up saving her when she's given a glass of water with a sedative dissolved in it. She remembers talking to him and dumps the water out the window instead of drinking it.]]
* EvilutionaryBiologist: Frank Lyle
* FishOutOfTemporalWater
* InnocentBigot: When Jessie gets to the outside world, she meets a black girl and briefly considers commenting on how surprisingly smart she is and asking her what it's like to be a "Negro." Fortunately she doesn't get a chance to actually say it.
* {{Masquerade}}: The adults who joined Clifton when it was founded obviously know the truth, but they raised their children to believe it was the 1840s. They were initially meant to explain everything to the kids once they were old enough to understand, but that ended up being forbidden before any of the children could find out. The odd anachronism, such as the word "okay," still manages to creep in, which does ''not'' please the men in charge.
* TheNineties: The book describes trends from the real present day and how they seem strange.
* PastRightNow
* PlayingWithSyringes: [[spoiler:Clifton is actually the brain child of a few [[MadScientist scientists]], funded by a millionaire, who are trying to breed a race of super humans by releasing various diseases into the water until the survivors are immune to all of them.]]
* [[HeKnowsTooMuch She Knows Too Much]]
* TrumanShowPlot: Variant...not a reality show per se, but close enough. Only the children didn't know the truth.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler:Frank Lyle.]]
----
Jessie Keyser has lived 13 years thinking that she lives in a rural village called Clifton in 1840s Indiana. When her village is struck with a bout of diphtheria, her mother tells her the truth: The year is really 1996, and Clifton is nothing but a replica of a historic village, or a tourist attraction. Jessie is sent to go get the cure for diphtheria in secret in the outside world from a scientist named Mr. Neely. But Mr. Neely isn't going to let that happen.
Rumors exist that ''TheVillage'' is an adaptation of this. For the trope that means "running out of time", see RaceAgainstTheClock.
----
!!!Tropes used by the novel:
* BigBrotherIsWatching: Since the tourists obviously can't interact with the villagers, [[PortraitPaintingPeephole special portraits of the President,]] trick mirrors, and similar tactics are used to let them observe from afar. At least one tourist has commented on how voyeuristic it all is, but the tour guides cheerfully explain that [[BlatantLies the villagers are aware of the surveillance and have all consented to it,]] so if no one has any further questions, we'll be moving right along...
* BitchInSheepsClothing: [[spoiler:Mr. Neeley/Frank Lyle]]
* BornInTheWrongCentury
* CannotTellFictionFromReality: [[spoiler:It's heavily implied that the reason Jessie's father joined the Clifton community in the first place and is so reluctant to leave it is because he has an untreated mental disorder.]]
* ChekhovsGun - The fat environmentalist's comment about how you can't trust the water, referring to a ditch that Jessie was about to drink out of, [[spoiler: ends up saving her when she's given a glass of water with a sedative dissolved in it. She remembers talking to him and dumps the water out the window instead of drinking it.]]
* EvilutionaryBiologist: Frank Lyle
* FishOutOfTemporalWater
* InnocentBigot: When Jessie gets to the outside world, she meets a black girl and briefly considers commenting on how surprisingly smart she is and asking her what it's like to be a "Negro." Fortunately she doesn't get a chance to actually say it.
* {{Masquerade}}: The adults who joined Clifton when it was founded obviously know the truth, but they raised their children to believe it was the 1840s. They were initially meant to explain everything to the kids once they were old enough to understand, but that ended up being forbidden before any of the children could find out. The odd anachronism, such as the word "okay," still manages to creep in, which does ''not'' please the men in charge.
* TheNineties: The book describes trends from the real present day and how they seem strange.
* PastRightNow
* PlayingWithSyringes: [[spoiler:Clifton is actually the brain child of a few [[MadScientist scientists]], funded by a millionaire, who are trying to breed a race of super humans by releasing various diseases into the water until the survivors are immune to all of them.]]
* [[HeKnowsTooMuch She Knows Too Much]]
* TrumanShowPlot: Variant...not a reality show per se, but close enough. Only the children didn't know the truth.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler:Frank Lyle.]]
----
