Describes the history, language, social classes, customs, culture, religion, and warfare of the ancient Central American civilization of the Mayas.

To bring rain to his thirsty village, Pik challenges the rain god to a game of pok-a-tok.

A young boy helps his aging grandfather complete a basket to be used by their Garifuna village to carry on the tradition of making cassava bread.

With the end of the Mayan calendar fast approaching, fourteen-year-old Max Murphy and his friend Lola, the Maya girl who saved his life in the perilous jungle, race against time to outwit the twelve villainous Lords of Death, following the trail of the conquistadors into a forgotten land steeped in legend and superstition.

When his archaeologist parents go missing in Central America, fourteen-year-old Max embarks on a wild adventure through the Mayan underworld in search of the legendary Jaguar Stones, which enabled ancient Mayan kings to wield the powers of living gods.

"Deep in the jungle, Max and Lola battle a zombie army, mutant cave spiders, and even the ancient Maya Lords of Death" -- provided by the publisher. (t.p. verso).

With his parents in jail and the Maya Death Lords in possession of all five Jaguar Stones, Max Murphy is pretty sure that he'll never get to leave the rainforest. But the Lords of Death have a problem a new king calling himself Great Sun claims to have the Jaguar Stones, too. And they want Max to prove the guy's a fraud. Or else. Now, Max and Lola are off on another adventure that will take them from Central America to New Orleans and up the Mississippi...

When brothers Max and Jay help a classmate in trouble, they struggle with the consequences of their violent actions and worry they may be more like their abusive father than they thought, so the brothers turn to their Bribri roots to find their way forward.

Connecticut middle-schooler Jake and his older sister Kady are transported by a Mayan artifact to a strange world inhabited by a mix of people from long-lost civilizations who are threatened by prehistoric creatures and an evil alchemist, the Skull King.