Margaret Peterson Haddix

Book Review: Running Out of Time

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Running Out of Time
Out of Time #1
by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Read by Kimberly Schraf

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Middle grade fiction

Jessie lives a simple life with her parents and siblings in a small town in 1840…or so she thinks. When a diphtheria outbreak threatens the kids in the village, Jessie’s mom sends her on an important mission: leave Clifton and get help. But leaving Clifton means stepping into a completely different world.

I enjoyed this story, which is like a time travel story without any time travel. The little clues dropped early in the book, when Jessie is still living a normal life in pioneer times, provide intrigue that I can see being even more so for kids/teens in the book’s target audience. When Jessie’s mom sends her on her mission, she gives her just enough info to get Jessie close to what she needs to do, and then Jessie has to use her own wits to fill in the gaps. The pressure is real, as the diphtheria outbreak is threatening the lives of several of the kids, and Jessie is constantly worried that she’s being tracked by henchmen of the founder of Clifton. The main thing that detracted from this story for me is that the motive behind everything that’s happening seemed really weak and squeezed in at the end, maybe because the author wanted to emphasize the premise and plot more than the “why” behind it all. Overall, though, I enjoyed my time listening to the audiobook. I think preteens through mid-teens would enjoy the book.

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Book Review: Moonleapers

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Moonleapers
Book #1
by Margaret Peterson Haddix

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Middle grade science fiction

The good news is that 12-year-old Maisie is finally getting a phone like everyone at school. The bad news is that her family is going to spend the summer in Maryland so her mom can be with her great-aunt who is dying. A mysterious text on the phone that actually used to belong to Great-Aunt Hazel, a blank book, and a brief phone call from a dying woman launch Maisie into the world of moonleaping.

The official synopsis gives as little clue about what moonleaping is and what angle this sci-fi book takes as I did above, so it sort of feels like a spoiler to explain. But the info is available in the genre sections on both Goodreads and Amazon, and I really don’t think I can write this review very well without stating it, but I’ll still try to be vague. This book is an interesting take on time travel, especially since there’s technically no travel involved. It’s all about communicating with other times, not traveling there. I’m the kind of person who really appreciates a time travel story that is well done, where connections to the past or the future are made well and flow in the way that would make the most sense if time travel were real. And though there are definitely some liberties taken here that are somewhat common in this genre, they really worked for me. I can’t explain further, but I actually got really excited by a sort of twist that the author brought out later in the book to make the time travel angle work in a fresh way.

The story and journey along the way to Maisie discovering what she can do and what she’s supposed to do with it are maybe a little on the slower side, but I was never bored. As the set-up for more to come now that Maisie knows about her moonleaping abilities, the book did what it needed to do and gave plenty of intrigue along the way. Some things are left unexplained—maybe they’ll be explained in a future book, but to be honest, they didn’t feel to me like loose enough threads to be certain they’ll ever be explained. Though that doesn’t make me want an explanation any less. Then there were other aspects that I wish had simply been fleshed out more in the plot, especially some details related to the climax. Also, Maisie’s younger siblings at times acted or talked older than their ages, especially her brother, which threw me off now and then.

Overall, though, I enjoyed this book and am already looking forward to the next one, even though this one won’t be released for over a month! I do recommend this book for anyone who likes mystery and intrigue and light time travel elements. It is middle grade fiction, but I don’t think the younger audience makes the story any less readable for adults.

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins Children’s Books for providing me a copy of this book to review.
Publication date: September 16, 2025

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Book Review: Into the Gauntlet

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Into the Gauntlet
The 39 Clues #10
by Margaret Peterson Haddix

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Children’s mystery, adventure

Spoiler notice: The following review will contain some spoilers for the previous books in the series, starting with The Maze of Bones.

The Cahill family has been split for many generations, and now it’s up to Amy and Dan to reunite them. But the fighting only intensifies as all five branches race toward the final clue.

The finale was both as exciting and as messy as the rest of the series. Taken on its own, I probably would have actually rated this book 3-3.5 stars, but I really enjoyed the series overall, so I’m leaving it at 4. But the finale just didn’t seem as smooth and well thought-out as I’d hoped for from this set-up. That might be an issue with having mostly different authors throughout, or more specifically with bringing in an author for the final book that wasn’t part of the rest of it at all.

One thing in particular that made me scratch my head is the inclusion of a team that has been out of the hunt since the very first book. If it was planned all along to bring them back at the end, I would have appreciated a reminder of them here and there throughout the series, because my aging brain had a very difficult time remembering that they ever existed when they suddenly showed back up. If it was not planned all along to bring them back…why do it? Their branch is already well-represented by someone who’s been a pretty big part of the series all along. Having him and this returning team part of the final showdown sort of bloats it in a way I don’t understand.

In the end, the finale isn’t a whole lot different than I expected, and it’s a bit saccharine, but I do think the author does a decent job of building on the minor changes in mindset in some of these characters in the latter books to culminate in an ending that doesn’t just come out of nowhere. If one can look past the characterization or continuity issues caused by multiple authors, this series is a lot of fun. And those in the age range it’s meant for, around 10-14, who like adventure and mystery will probably enjoy the series.

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