A year of terrible drought, the charts and calendars proclaim. The people resign themselves to starvation—all except Pik, a young ball player. Pik stakes their survival on a game of pok-a-tok. If he wins, the rains will come. If he loses, however, all will be lost.

The ancient Maya believed that the future was divinely decreed and could not be changed. The Maya civilization is the setting for this dramatic original tale of a boy who challenges the traditional belief system by taking his fate—and his people's—into his own hands. Maya art and architecture were the inspiration for David Wisniewski's inimitable cut-paper illustrations.

From the dust jacket