11,000 Years Lost (Amulet) [Paperback]

Peni R. Griffin (Author)

Book Description

Grade Level: 5 and up | Series: Amulet

A vivid, exhilarating peek at our prehistoric past, now available in paperback

This action-packed, fully-imagined time travel book takes a young Texan girl, participating in an archaeological dig, back to the time of the mammoth. There Esther is adopted by a group of mammoth hunters, who teach her to forage for food, make clothes, build fires, and protect herself from the megafauna who roam the land-scimitar cats, panthers, and more. Even as she grows attached to her new family and proud of her many skills, Esther searches for a way home.

Praise for 11,000 Years Lost

A Texas Bluebonnet Award suggested read for 2006-2007

"A vivid and engrossing picture of Pleistocene society...Griffin draws on her careful research to invent the past with a specificity beyond an archaeologist's wildest dreams."--Archaeology Magazine

"Esther's adventures in the messy world of late Ice Age Texas provide a compelling and believable read. Likable characters populate a fully realized world." --Kirkus

"An exciting peek into the distant past." --Booklist

"A unique, superior contribution to speculative adventure fiction, Ether's survival story is an emotionally satisfying, well-crafted read."--The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 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 © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Gr. 5-8. After discovering an 11,000-year-old spearhead, 11-year-old Esther Aragones becomes fascinated with the Ice Age Clovis people. While helping the archeologist digging at the spot where she found the spear, Esther steps between two trees and finds herself in the Ice Age and unable to get back to her own time. After being taken in by some nomadic mammoth hunters, she learns their language and their ways. Survival is paramount for the group, which never knows where its next meal will be found. When the hunters break camp to search for mammoths and other prey, Esther goes along and joins the women and girls as they forage for plants to be used for food and medicine. Along with sheer adventure, Griffin works in a touch of mysticism and an appreciation for the natural world. An occasional jarring anachronism in the dialogue notwithstanding, the characterizations are convincing, the dangers seem real, and the author's research is evident. The result is an exciting peek into the distant past. Sally Estes
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams (February 21, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810992515
• ISBN-13: 978-0810992511
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #179,511 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #18 in Books > Children's Books > Literature & Fiction > Historical Fiction > Prehistory

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A gripping story testing her survival skills, November 7, 2004

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 11,000 Years Lost (Hardcover)

Texas history, time travel, and lessons on family trees blend in the engrossing novel by Penni R. Griffin 11,000 Years Lost. Pre-teen Ester discovers an 11,000 year old spearhead once used by mammoth hunters during an archaeological dig: an artifact when opens a time portal and lands Esther in Ice Age Texas. Adopted by a group of mammoth hunters, she must learn to survive in a very different society and find a way home simultaneous in a gripping story testing her survival skills. Two of Peni R. Griffin's previous books have been nominees for Edgar Awards and 11,000 Years Lost joins their gripping action.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Meet the Clovis Indians!, September 25, 2007

By 

TooManyBooks (Texas) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: 11,000 Years Lost (Amulet) (Paperback)

(Written by 14yo.)
I liked this book because it seems so real, it's like you're there. The three characters I liked most were Ester, Ahrva, and Tekinit. They were my friends while I was reading the book. There are about 40 people in the story. I liked how the author made Ester walk through the door to the past and come upon two little girls named Ahrva and Tekinit. I also liked how the author wrote about the family moving from one place to another, and the things they did like hunt and gather food. The author described their ceremonies, how they spoke to one another, and their silly words they tried to pronounce. The things I didn't like were the deaths of four people and how the family cut themselves because they were grieving. I would have liked more suspense in the story like a scimitar cat coming into the camp site or something like that. I think there were too many hard names to pronounce. I really enjoyed this book! I wish there really was a door that made you go back in time! I would recommend that you read this book!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Perfect Ending, November 12, 2004

By 

Gary H. Cassel "Flamingnet Teen Book Reviews" (Baltimore, MD, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 11,000 Years Lost (Hardcover)

The book, 11,000 Years Lost, is about a girl,
Esther, who accidentally travels to 11,000 years
ago! She was helping some archeologists with a
site near her home when she walks through a
shimmering patch of air and arrives in the past.
She was taken in by a family group who was near
the place she appeared and she was thought of as
a star-child. She started to understand their
language and rituals after a while. All of the
hunters thought that she was good luck, even
though she knew it was not true. She goes through
countless hardships and joys on her way to try to
get home. To learn more, read the book.
I liked this book. It was not exactly a page
turner, but it certainly was not boring. It
taught me a little about ancient history and what
it would have possibly been like 11,000 years
ago, too. The ending was perfect. It kept me
wondering what had happened to her family group,
but some books should keep you wondering. This
book was not the best book I have ever read, but
it was pretty good. If you like historical
fiction or drama, you would definitely like this
book. FROM FLAMINGNET.COM
For more preteen and young adult book reviews visit www.flamingnet.com