The House of the Scorpion

The House of the Scorpion

By Nancy Farmer

Pages

380

Rating

4.08

Year

2002

FantasyScience FictionYoung AdultDystopiaFictionSchool

Description

With undertones of vampires, Frankenstein, dragons' hoards, and killing fields, Matt's story turns out to be an inspiring tale of friendship, survival, hope, and transcendence.

At his coming-of-age party, Matteo Alacrán asks El Patrón's bodyguard, "How old am I? ... I know I don't have a birthday like humans, but I was born."

"You were harvested," Tam Lin reminds him. "You were grown in that poor cow for nine months and then you were cut out of her."

To most people around him, Matt is not a boy, but a beast. A room full of chicken litter with roaches for friends and old chicken bones for toys is considered good enough for him. But for El Patrón, lord of a country called Opium— a strip of poppy fields lying between the U.S. and what was once called Mexico— Matt is a guarantee of eternal life. El Patrón loves Matt as he loves himself for Matt is himself. They share identical DNA.

A must-read for teenage fantasy fans.

More Like This

See All
Fahrenheit 451The GiverBrave New World / Brave New World Revisited
The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer - Bookist