The House of the Scorpion
by: Nancy Farmer
Price: $9.99
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Amazon.com Review:
Fields of white opium poppies stretch away over the hills, and uniformed workers bend over the rows, harvesting the juice. This is the empire of Matteo Alacran, a feudal drug lord in the country of Opium, which lies between the United States and Aztlan, formerly Mexico. Field work, or any menial tasks, are done by "eejits," humans in whose brains computer chips have been installed to insure docility. Alacran, or El Patron, has lived 140 years with the help of transplants from a series of clones, a common practice among rich men in this world. The intelligence of clones is usually destroyed at birth, but Matt, the latest of Alacran's doubles, has been spared because he belongs to El Patron. He grows up in the family's mansion, alternately caged and despised as an animal and pampered and educated as El Patron's favorite. Gradually he realizes the fate that is in store for him, and with the help of Tam Lin, his bluff and kind Scottish bodyguard, he escapes to Aztlan. There he and other "lost children" are trapped in a more subtle kind of slavery before Matt can return to Opium to take his rightful place and transform his country.
Nancy Farmer, a two-time Newbery honoree, surpasses even her marvelous novel, The Ear, The Eye and the Arm in the breathless action and fascinating characters of The House of the Scorpion. Readers will be reminded of Orson Scott Card's Ender in Matt's persistence and courage in the face of a world that intends to use him for its own purposes, and of Louis Sachar's Holes in the camaraderie of imprisoned boys and the layers of meaning embedded in this irresistibly compelling story. (Ages 12 and older) --Patty Campbell
Product Description:
MATTEO ALACRáN WAS NOT BORN; HE WAS HARVESTED.
His DNA came from El Patrón, lord of a country called Opium -- a strip of poppy fields lying between the United States and what was once called Mexico. Matt's first cell split and divided inside a petri dish. Then he was placed in the womb of a cow, where he continued the miraculous journey from embryo to fetus to baby. He is a boy now, but most consider him a monster -- except for El Patrón. El Patrón loves Matt as he loves himself, because Matt is himself.
As Matt struggles to understand his existence, he is threatened by a sinister cast of characters, including El Patrón's power-hungry family, and he is surrounded by a dangerous army of bodyguards. Escape is the only chance Matt has to survive. But escape from the Alacrán Estate is no guarantee of freedom, because Matt is marked by his difference in ways he doesn't even suspect.
Fields of white opium poppies stretch away over the hills, and uniformed workers bend over the rows, harvesting the juice. This is the empire of Matteo Alacran, a feudal drug lord in the country of Opium, which lies between the United States and Aztlan, formerly Mexico. Field work, or any menial tasks, are done by "eejits," humans in whose brains computer chips have been installed to insure docility. Alacran, or El Patron, has lived 140 years with the help of transplants from a series of clones, a common practice among rich men in this world. The intelligence of clones is usually destroyed at birth, but Matt, the latest of Alacran's doubles, has been spared because he belongs to El Patron. He grows up in the family's mansion, alternately caged and despised as an animal and pampered and educated as El Patron's favorite. Gradually he realizes the fate that is in store for him, and with the help of Tam Lin, his bluff and kind Scottish bodyguard, he escapes to Aztlan. There he and other "lost children" are trapped in a more subtle kind of slavery before Matt can return to Opium to take his rightful place and transform his country.
Nancy Farmer, a two-time Newbery honoree, surpasses even her marvelous novel, The Ear, The Eye and the Arm in the breathless action and fascinating characters of The House of the Scorpion. Readers will be reminded of Orson Scott Card's Ender in Matt's persistence and courage in the face of a world that intends to use him for its own purposes, and of Louis Sachar's Holes in the camaraderie of imprisoned boys and the layers of meaning embedded in this irresistibly compelling story. (Ages 12 and older) --Patty Campbell
Product Description:
MATTEO ALACRáN WAS NOT BORN; HE WAS HARVESTED.
His DNA came from El Patrón, lord of a country called Opium -- a strip of poppy fields lying between the United States and what was once called Mexico. Matt's first cell split and divided inside a petri dish. Then he was placed in the womb of a cow, where he continued the miraculous journey from embryo to fetus to baby. He is a boy now, but most consider him a monster -- except for El Patrón. El Patrón loves Matt as he loves himself, because Matt is himself.
As Matt struggles to understand his existence, he is threatened by a sinister cast of characters, including El Patrón's power-hungry family, and he is surrounded by a dangerous army of bodyguards. Escape is the only chance Matt has to survive. But escape from the Alacrán Estate is no guarantee of freedom, because Matt is marked by his difference in ways he doesn't even suspect.
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: 
- A deadly sting
I picked this book up blind at the recommendation of my son. The brief description I'd been given didn't provide much insight into what I should expect. Having recently read Bless Me, Ultima by Anaya, I was expecting something along similar lines. What I found was both strikingly different and oddly similar.
Characters
Our main character, Matt Alacran, is a clone (something I didn't know before reading, but it's introduced early on, so I'm not really spoiling anything by saying ... Read More
Rating: 
- A riveting reading of a complex childhood
This review relates specifically to the audio book version of this novel, read by Broadway actor Raul Esparza. I have never been much of a fan of audiobooks as reading is such a pleasure for me, but I strongly recommend this version. Mr. Esparza seamlessly creates a world full of distinctive personalities, and makes the main character, Matt, especially memorable. This book is the story of Matt's childhood from conception until age 14, and as Matt grows, his voice, his vocabulary and his perceptions ... Read More
Rating: - Cloning Humans Become Topical
Matt is a clone for a man who chooses not to die and is the gangster father of a huge drug cartel in Mexico.El Patron had many clones made of himself so he could use their parts for transplant of new organs.Most had their brains destroyed at birth, but one was allowed to have normal intelligence.Matt, lives with a servant for many years then moves to the "big house" where the family lives.As on many landed estates of gentry, most people are treated poorly and cater to the few.The lowest forms ... Read More
Rating: - The House of the Scorpion
For this book report I read The House of the Scorpion. The author of this book is Nancy Farmer. This book is a fantasy.
In this story there a very very old man who is 132 years old. So they make a clone of him. Its name is Matt. He stays in the house of Celia all day long. One day a group of kids come all long and Celia locks all of the doors and windows. So Matt decides to break the glass of there front door. Then he jumps out onto the glass and gets his feet, hands, and knees cut up by the glass. ... Read More
Rating: 
- I didn't get it
I truly do appreciate this book. I truly do. Nancy Farmer has a gift for creativity and I'm in love with the way she makes a blend of culture, sci-fi, and morality. This is a complex and thought-provoking novel, written quite well.
That said, I still did not like it.
It's dark, severe, grating, and hard-to-swallow. Which works well for many a book, but I'm afraid that it only made the end of this book all the more cheesy. And this is one top of the bizarre family connections.
Read More
- A deadly stingI picked this book up blind at the recommendation of my son. The brief description I'd been given didn't provide much insight into what I should expect. Having recently read Bless Me, Ultima by Anaya, I was expecting something along similar lines. What I found was both strikingly different and oddly similar.
Characters
Our main character, Matt Alacran, is a clone (something I didn't know before reading, but it's introduced early on, so I'm not really spoiling anything by saying ... Read More
- A riveting reading of a complex childhoodThis review relates specifically to the audio book version of this novel, read by Broadway actor Raul Esparza. I have never been much of a fan of audiobooks as reading is such a pleasure for me, but I strongly recommend this version. Mr. Esparza seamlessly creates a world full of distinctive personalities, and makes the main character, Matt, especially memorable. This book is the story of Matt's childhood from conception until age 14, and as Matt grows, his voice, his vocabulary and his perceptions ... Read More
- Cloning Humans Become TopicalMatt is a clone for a man who chooses not to die and is the gangster father of a huge drug cartel in Mexico.El Patron had many clones made of himself so he could use their parts for transplant of new organs.Most had their brains destroyed at birth, but one was allowed to have normal intelligence.Matt, lives with a servant for many years then moves to the "big house" where the family lives.As on many landed estates of gentry, most people are treated poorly and cater to the few.The lowest forms ... Read More
- The House of the Scorpion For this book report I read The House of the Scorpion. The author of this book is Nancy Farmer. This book is a fantasy.
In this story there a very very old man who is 132 years old. So they make a clone of him. Its name is Matt. He stays in the house of Celia all day long. One day a group of kids come all long and Celia locks all of the doors and windows. So Matt decides to break the glass of there front door. Then he jumps out onto the glass and gets his feet, hands, and knees cut up by the glass. ... Read More
- I didn't get itI truly do appreciate this book. I truly do. Nancy Farmer has a gift for creativity and I'm in love with the way she makes a blend of culture, sci-fi, and morality. This is a complex and thought-provoking novel, written quite well.
That said, I still did not like it.
It's dark, severe, grating, and hard-to-swallow. Which works well for many a book, but I'm afraid that it only made the end of this book all the more cheesy. And this is one top of the bizarre family connections.
Read More
