Discover this internationally bestselling, National Book Award–winning young adult classic about what it means to be human with an updated, reimagined cover!
Matt Alacrán wasn’t born. He was harvested.
His DNA came from El Patrón, the drug-lord ruler of the country of Opium. Most people hate and fear clones like Matt—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, and realizes escape is his only chance to survive. But escape from the Alacrán Estate is no guarantee of freedom.
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"This book guides you through its society. You can sense that its not "normal" in the beginning because the main character, Matt, was locked up. Matt is the clone of the ruler of the Opium Empire, El Patron. El Patron has had 8 lives because he's been creating clones and using them to replace his body parts. Matt was planned to be his ninth, but Matt was different from the others. He has a talent for music, and he was more intelligent. As Matt begins to realize the evil of El Patron, he knows that he needs to escape. Although he knew El Patron was evil, Matt loved him. He's the one that gave him the life with Cecilia. Personally, I also liked the character El Patron. He was evil, but I think it was mostly caused by the grief that he had to experience. He also lets down his guard when he repeats the story of his childhood and hardships of his family. One thing that's creepy about El Patron is that he collects everything valuable given to him and never gives them away. When he dies at the end, he was also determined to take his family down with him. He left wine that was ordered to be served at his funeral, and it killed everyone who drank it."
— Sally (5 out of 5 stars)
“Mind-expanding fiction.”
— USA Today“Readers will be hooked from the first page.”
— Publishers Weekly (starred review)“An inspiring tale of friendship, survival, hope, and transcendence.”
— Kirkus Reviews (starred review)“This is a powerful, ultimately hopeful story that builds on today’s sociopolitical, ethical, and scientific issues and prognosticates a compelling picture of what the future could bring.”
— Booklist (starred review)" The book The House of The Scorpion was in my opinion one of the most suspenseful, page turner books I have ever read. It is a sci-fi or fiction type of book that until the very end had me guessing, either who was good, bad, or in between. The book was extremely well written and I would recommend it to anyone like myself that hates to read. It will certainly keep you guessing and may just re-ignite your spark to read. "
— Mitch, 2/10/2014" Bad title - good book. Not a book I'll gush about, but it was good. "
— Stanci, 1/16/2014" The three stars is not meant to discourage anyone from reading this book. This book is very interesting and thought-provoking as the author examines the issue of human cloning. What does it mean to be human? What makes us us? To what lengths can we and should we take medical technology? What is it about life that we truly value? The book is a compelling read -- easy to return to and find out what happens. The three stars is a result of the ending. The ending is way too tidy and fast for my taste. This is a messy topic and it deserves a less Hollywood ending. "
— Kari, 12/28/2013" It was amazing! The characters were really amazing, and the plot was really well thought out! I found it hard to put down, and I would spend hours reading it at a time! There were many twists in the plot, and they made sense. It was the kind of book that didn't have many boring parts, and I really cared about each and every one of the characters! Sometimes, though, I did think Farmer explained so much, and the description didn't always seem to work. Great book, though! "
— Jamie, 12/11/2013" The first half of this book is the fascinating story of Matt, the clone of El Patron, one of the worlds most infamous drug lords. In a world where clones are treated as monsters or animals, Matt heart wrenchingly discovers the reason for his existence as he tries to live the life of any ordinary child. Once he escapes from the life he was living, the story wasn't as enjoyable. The feelings didn't seem as genuine, and the story just didn't end with the same momentum and emotion as it started with. I loved the first 3/4 of the book, and couldn't put it down; if it had ended with that same energy, I would have given a 5 star rating. "
— Becky, 12/10/2013" Matt survives the life of being the clone of El Patron, until he realizes he was created for the use of his body parts of when El Patron needs them. Great "
— Vicki, 11/29/2013" I thought it was a great youth novel. I liked the characters and the concept was interesting. I wanted to know how it ended. "
— Caroline, 11/22/2013" Another Newberry Honor book - great! Couldn't put it down. "
— Mary, 11/8/2013" There are far too many dystopian YA books around these days, and I didn't find anything particularly notable about this one. "
— Cheryl, 10/24/2013" House of Scorpions is a classroom novel for my seventh grade LA class. "
— Mrs., 3/15/2013" It was a great tale. The ending was lacking the dramatic plot that the beginning and middle had. "
— Shawna, 2/21/2013" Generally an amazing book i loved it so much in Elementary School so much the i bought it 8 years later in hopes from my child to read it, when shes older of course. "
— Daniel, 12/20/2012" Disturbing. Engrossing. Well written YA lit that would make for a fabulous classroom novel. The possibilities for cross-curricular lessons make my head reel. "
— Melissa, 11/20/2012" It was brilliant. I couln't put it down "
— Maribel, 2/23/2012" This is a favorite YA. I've read it twice. Better the second time. "
— Rhonda, 2/10/2012" Very wired book, hard to keep up with and its gross. Based in the future! "
— Mr, 1/5/2012" Not a particularly romantic Dystopian novel like I've been addicted to lately (Hunger Games, Divergent, Matched...), but great all the same. Highly recommend it for any adolescents and adults as well. "
— Molly, 10/11/2011" I liked this dystopian book. It gives a unique perspective into the life of a "clone". It also has thrilling scenes, and geat plot twists "
— Adam8cn, 8/2/2011" Definitely a unique story! It is about a young boy who learns he is a clone and finds out the world is not as he believed it to be. "
— Kyria, 7/12/2011" This book touches on many social issues. Slavery, drugs, racism--all mixed in without feeling preachy. A very interesting read told through the eyes of a clone, made from the ruler of a drug lord nation. <br/> <br/>I'd pass this book onto my boys. "
— Wendy, 5/24/2011" One of the most fascinating books I've ever read. In some ways, it was heartbreaking, in others it was wonderful. Cloning is always a hard subject to tackle, even in YA lit, but Farmer did a truly excellent job. I continue to recommend this book left and right. "
— Sarah, 5/23/2011" I'll write a full review later. But this is one of my all time favorite books, so well written. "
— Montgomery93, 5/17/2011" This story is fascinating and brings up some interesting ethical dilemmas for the future. "
— Sam, 5/16/2011" I actually really want to reread this. "
— Maddie, 5/16/2011" I loved this book. It was complex, moving, thrilling, important. Hope to reread it soon. "
— Catherine, 5/15/2011" I can't really remember this book, I read it too long ago, but I remember really liking it and thinking about it years later. "
— Rose, 5/13/2011" Very interesting and has a nice amount of suspense?/action. "
— Nessa, 5/10/2011" Had to read for a college course, have read three time since. Love the story and the characters. "
— Angela, 5/9/2011" i think this book is pretty but its not as good as the uglies series.this book is about a clone of a powerful drug lord who rules over a country called opium. "
— Anita, 5/5/2011" I read this years ago and the memory has stayed with me. A powerful book. <br/> "
— Linda, 5/2/2011Nancy Farmer has written three Newbery Honor books: The Ear, the Eye and the Arm, A Girl Named Disaster, and The House of Scorpion, which also won the National Book Award. Some of her other books include The Sea of Trolls, The Land of the Silver Apples, The Islands of the Blessed, Do You Know Me, The Warm Place, and three picture books for young children. She grew up on the Arizona-Mexico border and now lives with her family in Menlo Park, California.
Raúl Esparza is a Cuban-American actor best known for his performances on Broadway. He has received Tony nominations for his roles in Taboo, Company, The Homecoming, and Speed the Plow, and his performance in the Center Theatre Group’s production of Leap of Faith earned him an Ovation Award in 2011. He also has a recurring role on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Rafael Barba.