11,000 Years Lost

11,000 Years Lost,
by Peni R. Griffin, is one of the best historical adventure books Ive ever
read.  It is the story of  eleven-year old Esther, who loves archaeology
and gravitates toward a scrawny archaeologist named Dr. Durham because she
doesnt treat Esther like shes in her waylike her mother does.

      The book jumps right into action from the very first, with
Esther getting a mini-lesson on the types of people who lived in prehistoric Texas
eleven thousand years ago.  Dr. Durham
teaches Esther about Clovis points (tools), and the huge animalsmegafaunathat
lived eleven thousand years ago&a handy hint for the reader about what Esther
will encounter when she is whisked backward in time.

      A few pages later, Esther is at a dig site with Dr. Durham
and encounters an abnormalitythe trunks
of two evergreens that didnt exist framing blubonnets, trees and hill contours
that didnt match. Esther spies two girls that dont look like any girls
shes ever seen before, and they are speaking a language shes never
heard.  Unable to resist, Esther steps
between the trees&and into another world eleven
thousand years in the past.

      From here, the book is one delicious adventure.  Esther gets to know the two girlsAhrva and
Tekinnit, and is eventually adopted by their family.  Nicknamed The Starchild, most members of
Esthers new tribe thinks she has good
wazicator good luck.  However, a few
of the members are suspicious of her, and would just as well leave her in the
wilderness to die than allow her to travel with their group.

      Esther learns how to hunt mammoths, pick berries, sharpen Clovis
points, fend off huge animals and survive in the wilderness.  In return, she teaches her new family what
will happen to the mammoths, and she helps a family with bad blood cleanse
itself and live a dignified life in the group again.

      If you have a child who loves history and adventure, be sure
to pick up a copy of 11,000 Years Lost.  This one will not only fire your childs
imagination, it is guaranteed to leave him or her satisfied with the
storytelling, and grateful for family and for present-day conveniences. 

      This will make a great gift for the history classroom, or
for the personal library.