Excerpt from The Last Neanderthal by Claire Cameron, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

Don't run, though. You feel scared because on an instinctual level you acknowledge that you are weaker. Remember that she isn't worried about you. She knows she is stronger and she can afford to stare. The thing to focus on is that you are the most spectacular thing she has ever seen. Because the Neanderthal population was always small, she has seen only a handful of other upright bodies in her lifetime, and never anyone like you. What she feels is a sense of wonder.

Hold up your palm. Spread your fingers out like hers in a greeting. Walk up to her, slowly.

When you are close enough, press the skin of your palm against hers. Feel her heat. The same blood runs under the surface of your skin. Take a breath for courage, raise your chin, and look into her eyes. Be careful, because your knees will weaken. Tears will come to your eyes and you will be filled with an overwhelming urge to sob. This is because you are human.

When you look into her eyes, you will feel an immediate connection. All the difference drops away. You each know with certainty that you can feel the mind of the other. You share a single thought: I am not alone..

Excerpted from The Last Neanderthal Copyright © 2017 by Claire Cameron. Used with permission of Little, Brown and Company, New York. All rights reserved.