The publisher's overview: In two parallel stories, an intelligent female member of a prehistoric tribe becomes instrumental in advancing the lot of her people; in a modern segment, the daughter of a paleontologist is visiting him on a dig in Africa when important fossil remains are discovered.

Dickinsen's dual timelines were very effective, a format that is often disruptive to the story flow. Reader engagement stays high and the tensions in both the prehistoric backstory and the modern era when the fossil hunters find hominid remains builds successfully.

The main characters are well-drawn: Li, in prehistoric times and Vinny, in the modern era. Li's story was an imaginary excursion into an early evolutionary period in hominids transiting life built around an aquatic environment to a terrestrial existence. While much of this aspect is purely fantasy, it was a marvellous underpinning for the African paleontology expedition where Vinny's father was working.

Technically, a very questionable standard of behaviour for excavating fossils by Dr. Hamiska (the leader of this investigation) was part of the story. He was a glory hog (not an uncommon problem in scientific group research). Hamiska destroyed more finds than were gained by his greedy, careless digging, counteracting the meticulous work of others. This aspect detracted my enjoyment of the archaeological work, making the personalities dominate the story and setting up strife between genuinely good experts and Hamiska's ham-handed nastiness. When good scientific practice by the lead investigator was so negligible, the narrative lost its focus in tying the fossil finds to the intriguing prehistoric story.

However, Hamiska's malice leads to a hugely satisfying dénouement. While some readers may find this a contrived plot device, such antics have become very common as tribal nations find their place on the world stage and take over control of their own pre- and early-historical resources.

The political undercurrents of academia and political interference were a truly insightful theme to develop in YA reading. Too often the glory and fame of so-called leading scientists ignore the reality that teamwork and collaboration can be overset by these factors. While Dickinsen downplayed this in the beginning, the theme developed in a realistic scenario. The novel left me wanting more story about the further career of Vinny's father and Mary Ana, one of the other scientists who was to continue on the dig. ( )

Neat book! Two time periods described alternately - a modern girl visits an archaeological (paleontological, actually) dig with her scientist father, and a hominid girl several million years ago lives what they're digging up. The themes and situations they meet are surprisingly similar - an overbearing wanna-be authority wants to take over each girl, and an outside force (of very different types) allows them, and their families, to escape. Dickinson is also writing as if the theory (considered marginal, at best) that we evolved at least partly in the sea were completely accurate - though he does say, in an afterword, that "of course" what he writes about isn't fact, he made it all up and there is no way of knowing what really happened back then. I like both Li and Vinny. Vinny's interactions with her father, and (reported) with her mother, are interesting - she's had to figure out about her parents more than most children do, to understand what drives them. I found the archaeology as interesting as the adventures in both times. And of course it has Dickinson's usual rich characters. Well worth reading, and probably rereading. ( )

It's actually unfortunate that some teachers have assigned this, because it really is not the kind of book that appeals to people who don't like to read anything outside their comfort zone.

Sometimes some of the characters' behaviors are bit implausible - for example Vinny is awfully sensitive to her parents' perspectives, and also she's amazingly able to articulate, to her father, why her mother is a good person but not a good wife to him.

Other than that - marvelous. It is absolutely fascinating to imagine what the certain particular stage of human evolution that was explored here might have been like - especially for one thoughtful girl-child living through it. The child and the people of her tribe and community are beguiling.

The modern part of the story was interesting, too. It's nice to think of science as a noble pursuit, but issues of egos and of funding are all too influential, as this book makes more clear than I'd ever fully realized before.

Smart, gracefully written, thoughtful - and for the right readers, engaging. ( )

Vinny, a modern girl is reunited with her father on a fossil dig in Africa. She is exploring the fossil remains of another girl--and the other narrator of the story--who lived millions of years ago. Follow Li, a hominid who lived when the flat plain was a sea, and Vinny, who is finding herself as she discovers fossils of a distant age. ( )

Recommended by Lynne - A really good read. ( )