A young Mayan boy helps his family plant crops and tend to their meager farm. One day his older brother brings home some "magic maize" - corn from the gringos, who say it will grow and produce much better than their own - but their father is too distrustful of the white people to use it. So Fabian decides to plant it in secret. This Newbery Honor Book from 1953 feels its age; it's filled with subalterns who can't seem to make ends meet until the White Saviors come to the rescue. Blech. ( )