Teen 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.
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