Not quite as good as Running Out of Time, which I had NEVER read as a youth (I was way into the Shadow Children series though!!) so I recently read that before reading Falling Out of Time. Some recycled material but Haddix tied the books together and went the opposite way, into the future! Definitely a fun read for middle graders.

Thanks to net galley for the advanced readers copy. This is still an unbiased review. Running out time was my favorite childhood book. So I was quite excited for a sequel years later (though also part of me worried if it would be as good). I LOVED it! It was so hard to put down! I thought a sequel would just leave off where running out of time did, but no, Margaret Peterson haddix managed to create a new story that was still related to the running out of time. So creative! Her readers shouldn’t be disappointed!

I read the original Running Out of Time in the fifth grade ('97-'98). It was a Sunshine State Reader that year, and loved it. It's one of my favorite childhood books So when I spotted this one on NetGalley I was super excited to read it. A sequel? At last!

This book follows the next generation of the Keyser family. Zola is the daughter of Jessie's, the protagonist from the first book, older sister. She's smart and resourceful like Jessie, but her technology and culture shock is in the opposite direction. She sees the modern world as primitive rather than advanced.

This is because she's been made to believe that in the 2020s the world solved all it's problems. If only. That we banded together, putting our differences aside to come up with solutions to climate change and world hunger etc. She has an insta-oven that delivers fresh cooked food as if it's a Replicator in Star Trek, and a closet the recycles her clothes every night to give her new ones. She goes to school virtually with what she thinks are kids from all over the world. But the reality is, non of the tech is real. While the VR is slightly more advanced than what is currently commercially available, unbeknownst to her, her classmates aren't international. They are all in Futureville. Like in the first book, the parent's are aware of what's going on, but the children truly believe they are in 2139.

While some of the tech sounds amazing, some sounded far fetched and ridiculous. But I think that was the point. Who wouldn't want an Insta-Oven? I know I would! But the Insta-Closet sounded the most far fetched. A closet that takes your worn clothes, and instead of washing them, some how recycles them and gives you new in the morning? I'd rather have one that washes, dries, and folds! But instantly breaking down clothing was how I knew it had to be fake tech. But I got a good laugh out of it. The AI being names Sirilexagoogle is hilarious! What a way to mash up everything. And Zola's musing that who needs three different AIs instead of one without realizing it's a mash up was priceless.

When Puck relates the conditions in his part of the Futureville, you realize just how sinister the Park's creators are that they've allowed a whole group to live in the worst sort of poverty and actively keep them that way, not to mention using them as slave labor to keep the illusion on the other side going. Puck's pessimism and cautiousness were a good balance to Zola's optimism and easily trusting nature. She's been so sheltered she's a bit naive, while he's been so neglected in the "bad Futureville" he's become cynical. But the two make a great team as they are determined to save each other and everyone else in Futureville. When he tells Zola's mom he considers her his mother too, it gave me hope for the three of them becoming a family.

Overall, this was a fast paced adventure with just the right amount of mystery and danger. I didn't want to put it down as I wanted to know how Zola was connected to Jessie, then how and why her family would get mixed up in something like Clifton Village again, to how they were all going to get out alive.

As soon as I saw this book, I knew it was one I wanted to read. Running Out of Time was one of the few MG books I kept out of the hundreds I originally owned as a child, and I was eager to see how the author could pull off a sequel. I'm happy to say, this book doesn't disappoint.

Zola lives in a perfect future, where VR helps do an end run around all the boring bits of life. But when she realizes she's living a lie, she has to assemble allies and figure out how to outsmart the grown-ups who are keeping her, her mother, her friends, and her friends' families captive in the futuristic equivalent of Clifton Village. The characters and their relationships are engaging, the culture shock plot points are done perfectly, and the children's ingenuity in working to save themselves and their families is once again done just right.

Considering how much I loved Running Out of Time growing up (and, frankly, as an adult too) it was probably impossible for a sequel to live up, but even besides the somewhat less engaging plot, I was pretty disappointed by a lot of the craft elements here. I didn’t really connect with Zola as a character and found her perspective a little frustrating to read through; it left me wishing that Puck had been the narrator or at least a POV character instead. The action didn’t really pick up until over halfway through the book and even once it was there, it felt pretty circular and minimal in the actual adventure which made it feel pretty pointless. I was happy that some amount of the “old man yells at cloud” anti-technology tone of the opening chapters wore off a bit and the inclusion of the underclass Futureville society felt interesting, pointed and timely, but it still ended up feeling a bit preachier than is necessarily engaging for me, especially in terms of Zola’s dialogue every time she was shocked about the flaws of people and the world (“Why isn’t that parent being endlessly patient with their child?”); the use of the specific villain also felt pretty cheesy, especially by the point of the confrontation. Perhaps this might work better for readers who come in without the background or expectations that I did, especially those interested in futuristic/dystopian literature, but I wanted to enjoy this far more than I actually did.

The long-awaited sequel to Running Out of Time is finally here! It's 2193 and all of the world's problems have been solved...or so Zola Keyser has been told her entire life. But, just as in Jessie Keyser's Clifton Village in 1840, all is not what it seems. Falling Out of Time has more technology in it and could therefore be categorized more as sci-fi than Running Out of Time, which was more historical, but this book is equally, if not more, enjoyable. This is a middle grade novel, so as adults we need to suspend our disbelief just a bit more than usual, but it's still a fun, quick read by the amazing Margaret Haddix. Even after 40+ books, she's still got the magic touch with middle grade fiction! I can't wait for my students who loved Running Out of Time to finally get to read Falling Out of Time on May 30, when our pre-ordered eb00ks will be available!

First things first, I absolutely loved this book and I was so grateful to be able to read a sequel to something I loved so dearly as a child!

I'm not usually reading and reviewing YA, so while I don't have much to say about the book itself in terms of content and structure, I will say that I'm not sure what audience this will work best for. Even though this book does a good job at including enough from the original book to keep the reader on board without having to have actually read the original book, I'm not sure if the modern YA audience will really resonate with this book. It's definitely MG/YA age appropriate, and a compelling story on its own, but I think the audience for this will end up being quite a few adults who remember the original book and want to return to the world for nostalgia's sake, and potentially won't attract a lot of new, younger readers.

That said, I had a wonderful time reading this book, am so grateful to have gotten an ARC, and will definitely be ordering it for the shop and handselling it as much as possible!

If you ever read “Running Out of Time” in middle school like I did, I highly suggest reading this long-awaited sequel. I do think that you need to read the first book in order to fully understand this one. I reread it after getting a few chapters in because I felt a little lost. I really enjoyed this story as it kept me on the edge of my seat. I couldn’t predict what would happen next. Reading about Zola’s life in the “future” made me jealous, and I do kind of hope technology advances enough within my lifetime so I can see some of the things she got to see. I didn’t enjoy the ending, unfortunately. It felt like the author was adding too much and couldn’t figure out how to conclude the whole story. I wanted more than a silly monologue from the Futurevilles owner, and I wanted to learn more about Jessie’s life in the last 30 years. I also wanted more about Puck throughout the book. He felt like a convenient side character whenever Zola needed something, but he was very flat.

Falling Out of Time will be loved by readers of Running Out of Time. I don't have many students that engage with Running Out of Time anymore, but I could see them wanting to read it in order to read Falling Out of Time. It does not feel as current as other titles coming out this year, and I could some of my students reaching for other texts over this one. I thought it was fun, fast paced, and I will certainly purchase a copy for my classroom library.

Running Out of Time has been a perennial favorite of mine, as well as a sure fire hit with almost any 4th-6th grader looking for a good book. I was super excited to see that after close to 30 years Ms. Haddix has written a sequel and I love the spin she took on it. The "perfect world" that Zola lives in is in 2193, until she starts to learn that maybe it isn't so perfect after all. This was a great adventure with important messages about how we are using our resources today, as well as thoughts on how we want to incorporate technology into our lives in the future. I recommend reading Running Out of Time first for a better understanding of the story within the story and the characters' motivations. Recommended for grades 4 & up.

I loved the first book and was thrilled to get a advanced copy of the sequel. I enjoyed the alternating p.o.v. from Zola and her new friend. I won't spoil the book more but it's a great topic to read about. I thought it was a good plot, not as good as the first one but perhaps I'm seeing it through rose colored glasses since I'm one of the older generations who read the first book when they were young. I enjoyed see what happened to Jessie's family. Such a great read.

This went a very fascinating direction. I appreciate Haddix's writing, yet I found much of this to be predictable given the fact that it's a sequel to Running Out of Time. There were several twist and turns however that, despite predictability, kept me incredible engaged with this reading experience. Definitely worth reading for fans of the original, but I don't know how current young readers will accept this given that Running Out of Time may be less popular now than it once was.

Margaret Patterson Haddix is a story telling master. Running out of Time has been one of my favorite books. I loved that we get a continuation to the story this was a page turning fantastic fast read.

Running Out of Time was a formative piece of fiction for me - it's one of the books I read as a kid that has stuck with me conceptually into adulthood, so much so that I recently reread it after almost two decades! That reread is what led me to discover this upcoming sequel and I was surprised and delighted and I'm so glad I got to read it as an arc! When I reread the first book I realized that there were a lot of things I still loved about it and also a lot of things I was a little disappointed in the author for - her depiction of Black people, for instance, and the blatant lack of queer representation. I was really hoping that she would be more inclusive and sensitive to these things with this book, and while I can see that she either realized some of it and/or had it pointed out to her, the way she chose to address it came across as forced/unnatural. So I suppose my ultimate opinion of Falling Out of Time is the same as the original book - GREAT concept, interesting characters and plot, definitely something I would have deeply enjoyed as a child reader; but written with a very clearly white midwesterner worldview without much attempt to broaden it in a way that doesn't feel rote.

Having read Running Out of Time several years ago, I was very excited to learn about upcoming book. In this sequel, we meet Zola Keyser, a relative of Running Out of Time's protagonist Jessie Keyser. Zola lives a privileged life in 2193, being raised by her single mother in a world full of high-tech conveniences (which her mother is always reminding her about). A mysterious note, however, brings about the realization that Zola's world is not all that she believes it to be.

Falling Out of Time is an exciting science fiction tale full of plot twists and suspense, with a strong main character determined to right the wrongs done to her and others in her futuristic world. As someone who read the first book, I was able to quickly predict where the storyline was going, however that did not make this book any less captivating for me!

It could have been because we were traveling, but neither of my daughters (third and sixth grade) were able to get hooked on this story or the characters. I will try reading it again in a few months to give the author a second chance. Thanks!

Thank you to NetGalley and Katherine Tegen Books/Harper Collins for the eARC.

Zola and her mother live in Indiana in 2193, where everything is virtual--school, travel, and everything is perfect; clothes and outfits appear in the Insta-closet, food in the Insta-oven and all basic needs and wants are provided for you, even a sirilexagoogle, a virtual assistant that will solve any issues or questions.
Zola first discovers things might not be as they seem when she receives a note in her Insta-closet and soon discovers with the help of Puck, that this perfect utopian world is actually a cover-up for something nefarious and things aren't actually as they seem.

Running Out of Time is one of my favorite read-aloud books, and this book also has a plot twist early on, where Zola and her friend Puck are on the run in a world they don't understand. Students who love Running Out of Time, will eagerly want to read this one too. Will purchase multiple copies for my library.

Thanks to #netgalley for giving me an advanced ebook copy. I enjoyed the original when I read it a few years ago. This one holds up to the original. It is definitely an upper elementary/middle grade novel. I found it a little over the top with the Sirilexagoogle stuff, but it works great for the audience it was intended for. I would love to live in the actual Futureville. I think my students would enjoy this book.

Although the first book in the series was Haddix's first book in Herr career, I read it this summer. Honestly, after I realized the plot was similar but opposite of the first book, I predicted thar the book's plot would be similar but in a different time period. Then Haddix took me for a roller-coaster ride. The plot twist was so unexpected. I haven't found a Haddix book that doesn't keep me guessing. I loved this book.

Along with everyone else, I fell in love with the 1995 Margaret Peterson Haddix thriller, Running Out of Time. The concept was fresh, and the basic conflict was a matter of life and death. I read it as a school librarian and welcomed this exciting story into our collection.
If Running Out of Time could be said to hit a home run, the sequel Falling Out of Time is more like a solid double. Building on the original story in which a young girl must escape from a village in the year 1840 to find medical treatment for children falling ill from diphtheria, it is only as the danger begins to build that young Jessie learns the village of Clifton is a fabrication, and the outside world Is living in the twentieth century In the sequel it is Jessie’s sister and niece Zola who are living in a fabricated community, but this time more like Tomorrowland, The harsh failings of contemporary society have been supplanted by VR goggles, air pollution has been conquered, there are Insta-Closets and -Ovens and, the best invention of the whole book — sirilexagoogle, a virtual assistant that can solve every problem you might ever face.
Unfortunately, the novelty of living in a false world has already been done, so the basic premise doesn’t have the surprise of the original story. That is not to say that the labor-saving devices of 2093 aren’t clever and fun to imagine, but even while we are enjoying the Picture Wall and the pleasure of instant meals and wardrobe, the reader is expecting a darker world to be revealed.
I’m not sure if my other big criticism is fair. I, of course, am reading this book as an adult, and I found the frequent repetition of Zola’s observations and complaints to be quite annoying. The author, however, was writing for a Middle School audience and this technique might be warranted for younger readers. The story was narrated by young Zola which gives it a certain immediacy but prevents any sophisticated reflection from being introduced.
The strength of this story lies in the discussions that are sure to arise on the topic of whether technology without freedom will create a better or worse society. Haddix, I’m confident, will have a ready made audience eager to read about time-shifting of another sort.