Can the mysterious jade amulet transport Nic Porter through time to the era of the classic Mayas? This is just one of the questions the twenty-year-old Mayan history major wants to answer in The Curse of the Jade Amulet. And why does the amulet only come alive when Nic, and no one else, touches it? Most importantly, why does his host family at Chichen Itza, the ancient Mayan ceremonial site where Nic is living and studying, have one of these amulets-when all the others have been found at the bottom of the Sacred Well of Sacrifice along with the remains of the sacrificial victims they were intended for? For Nic these are more than just intriguing questions. For at least a thousand years, the women of his host family have suffered from an unexplained wasting condition which gradually undermines their health and strength, resulting in early death-and now beautiful Itzel, daughter of his host Jose and Nic's true love-is showing symptoms as well. Jose thinks the fact that they have one of the amulets can only mean one thing, that centuries ago an ancestor intended for sacrifice somehow escaped her fate, angering the vindictive Mayan gods and causing them to place a curse for all time on the female line of the family. Nic doesn't know what to think, but it's becoming obvious that the amulet itself wants to use him to fulfill its long-dormant destiny. . . Thus begins an adventure that takes Nic from present-day Yucatan, Mexico to the era of the ancient Mayas and back on a magical quest to discover the secret of the jade amulet and save the life of the girl he loves."