Running Out of Time

A diptheria outbreak threatens the small rural community of Clifton and now Jessie's little sister, Katie, has fallen ill. There is no cure for diptheria in 1840 but is it really 1840? Desperate to save Katie, Jessie's mum finally tells Jessie the truth - it is 1996 and Clifton is a living history museum secretly observed by tourists. More sinisterly, it now also is a place from which they cannot escape, even to get medecine. Can Jessie save them?

Reminiscent of The Trueman Show, this agreeable first novel is pacily plotted with cliffhanger chapter endings as Jessie escapes from Clifton into the modern world. Young readers will enjoy seeing 1996 through Jessie's eyes-so many things surprise or baffle her - from lush lavatories to cars to phones. If characterisation is rather perfunctory and the denouement stretches credibility, this hardly matters as the reader is swept along by events.