Step into the incredible city of Gua, where time ticks on underneath a giant, monolithic clock. Reb the bear and Dran the boy learn life's lessons one day at a time-but be warned: every clock strikes midnight eventually.

Lessons in life can often come from the most surprising places-and each era of our lives has so much to teach us. When Dran the boy and Reb the bear are growing up in the mystical city of Gua, their lives unfold in the shadow of the monumental clock downtown. As time on the clock ticks on, new chapters in the pair's lives unfold-school days; marriage; first jobs; hardships; the waning of their bodies.

In this fantastical world, many unexplainable things take place over the 100 years of the characters' lives. But friendship will be their anchor from youth until their final days.

In Live Fast Before Your Clock Strikes 12, author Vivian Newton paints a compelling portrait of lives not unlike our own. Divided into four sections, each represented by times of day on a 24-hour clock, the book walks through Reb's and Dran's infancy, childhood, adulthood, and senior years.

Newton's incredible novel reminds us to stay open to the many unlikely sources that can bring us assistance in life. It is also a parable teaching us that we must accomplish all we can-as fast as we can-because our time is so very limited.

What will your life say when your clock strikes its final chime?