This action-packed time travel book takes a young Texan girl called Esther who is participating in an archaeological dig, back to the time of the mammoth and her Clovis ancestors, the early hunter gatherers who were Northern America's first inhabitants. Esther experiences a very different kind of childhood, where play is practice for survival, no next meal is guaranteed, and humans are prey for mammoths, saber-tooth cats, and more. Will she get back to her own time? And what does it mean if you die before you were born?

About the Author

Peni R. Griffin has written many award-winning novels for young adult readers. The Switching Well was a finalist for the Golden Spur Award; The Ghost Sitter was an Edgar finalist and a Golden Sower nominee. Her writing has been called "expertly plotted, richly imaginative, and entertaining" (Kirkus) and "clever, funny, and touching, fascinating" (Booklist). She lives in San Antonio, Texas.

Reviews

Gr 5-7-This uneven time-travel novel features archaeology-loving Esther, an 11-year-old living in Texas. She spends much of her summer vacation hanging out at a dig near her school. She becomes friends with the scientists who work at the site and is often of help to them. When she unknowingly walks through a simmering light among some trees, she is transported back 11,000 years. Esther is quickly taken in by a small clan of nomads, some of whom believe she brings good luck. Quickly enough, she learns their language and customs and travels along as they search for food, hunt for mammoth, and attend a large clan gathering, all the while searching for a portal back to modern times. The strong point of this novel is Griffin's research, which is clearly thorough. Unfortunately, her attempt to educate readers is at the expense of plot and character development. Conflicts arise from time to time as not all clan members believe Esther is good luck, but the group often settles problems calmly and she is never abandoned. The personalities of the prehistoric people never move beyond being either good or bad. Esther's time in the past drags on for many months and climaxes when she teaches the clan to line dance as a means of conflict resolution. A strictly additional purchase for those libraries in need of prehistoric fiction.-Karen T. Bilton, Somerset County Library, Bridgewater, NJ Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.