house of the scorpionTeen Book Recommendation #13: The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer

page count: 380

pub date: 2002

genre: science fiction

age group: teen

My Rating: 4 / 5 stars*

Why am I recommending this book?:  I wasn’t really every planning on reading this book.  (I have a lot of books I want to read and will never get to all of them to begin with).  I am very glad I got the chance to read this, however.

This book really makes you think about things.  In a not too distant future, there is a strip that divides the US and what was once Mexico.  This strip of land is its own nation – the land of Opium.  Matt lives in this strip.  He is a clone of the most powerful man in all of Opium, El Patron.  Being El Patron’s clone comes with some benefits – like your own personal bodyguard.  It also comes with some terrifying consequences.

In a world where clones not only exist but are considered livestock, Drug Lords rule their own country, and people have computer chips implanted in their brains; Matt needs to figure out how he fits in and how he can survive.

This is a book that you will want to discuss with someone when you are done.  Matt is a fantastic character, made even more interesting by the fact that he is the clone of a complex but ultimately evil man.  What does that mean for him?  What does that mean about human nature?

I never thought I would read this book, but now I’m looking for some extra time to read the second installment, The Lord of Opium.

 

*a note on my rating system:  I go by the rates I use on goodreads.com, which are as follows:

1 star = did not like it

2 stars = it was okay

3 stars = liked it

4 stars = really liked it

5 stars = it was amazing

Anything a 3 or above is worth reading, in my opinion.  I’ve read a lot of books that I have given 3 stars to, and I don’t regret any of them.