First read in 1963 as a high school student and found it to be imaginative and involving. It was as if I were the main character transported back in time to the Neanderthal and experiencing their daily existence and survival. Since then there have been more venues for time travel fiction and certainly more descriptive technology and special effects but still nothing to compare with the mental visions evoked by this fiction narrative of a boy thrust into a violent environment of hunter gatherers who themselves were in turn hunted.

As a 5th grader in a small Midwestern town I had no idea the impact this small book would have on my life. Many times over the past 32 years I've recalled how at the age of 10 this book single handedly opened my mind to the magical world that can only be reached through the pages of a truly good Sci-fi read. Even now I can see in my minds eye the books character and the images Oliver's words created so long ago. I now have a 10 year old son in the 5th grade, in a small Midwesten town. He is somewhat indifferent to books and would much rather play Nintendo than read. If I can just find a copy, maybe....

This book put me on the trail of Si-Fi when it came out in 1954(?). I've re-read it many times since (by reserving it through the library system) and have been searching all the nooks and crannies of used book stores for lo, these past 20 years, to no avail. I can't expalin its hold on my psyche, but it's not to be denied. Chad Oliver penned a classic with this one. I'd like to give it 10 stars.