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The House of the Scorpion Review

Couldn't put it down! Read it in a day. A dystopian tale whose commentary on present-day society rivals and even surpasses popular dystopians like Hunger Games and Uglies. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

This dystopian tale about a runaway clone is NOT your typical sci fi adventure (although it has the action and fast-paced plotting of one). Rather, it is a sociological expose of the hidden natures of mankind in general, showing how both sides of our political spectrum are inherently dangerous and self-interested, and that women and young people are the only beings sensible enough to rise above man's ridiculous power plays and establish peace. Entertaining AND very thought-provoking. Loved it!

The House of the Scorpion Feature

• ISBN13: 9780689852237
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

The House of the Scorpion Overview

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 Alacr n Estate is no guarantee of freedom, because Matt is marked by his difference in ways he doesn't even suspect.

The House of the Scorpion Specifications

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

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Customer Reviews

son couldn't read this book fast enough - Robin Ryan, author and career coach - Seattle, WA United States
AN amazing, awesome, fantastic book or so says our son. It was so engrossing our 6th grader stayed up at night + skipped TV to read this book! Definitely buy it and you'll also have your kids have their "nose-in-a-book" enjoying this terrific read.



Plot holes, and rather strong political overtones - Krystyna Westfield - TX USA
I got this book because my book club selected it. I know it won a bunch of awards, but I'm not sure exactly why. I understand that it is a junior reading level, but I found it lacking even still. My husband, who is a huge sci-fi fan also read it and was pretty unimpressed. There are several glaring plot holes in the book. And the political messages were very overt; after a while it was annoying how intense the author's views were on certain topics. All in all, an ok story to read in an afternoon, but one that I'm turning right back around and selling, and would not read a second time.






Poorly written, badly researched, propaganda - Lirpa Spaz - Belgium
I HATED IT, and hated it on so many levels I truly do not know where to begin.

First of all, I will acknowledge one aspect of the story that I found positive. This is the story of Matt, a clone. Matt is raised in a shack on the opium plantation of drug lord, El Patron. He is El Patron's clone, grown for the purpose of being spare body parts for El Patron. In this world (the near future), clones are considered property, livestock. The embroyos are implanted in cows, so the people of this world have come to the conclusion that anything born from cows is not human. After they are "born," their brains are purposely damaged so that the people can further consider these clones as beasts instead of human abominations of nature. This campaign of dehumanization has resonance throughout history. The Jews, the enslaved Africans in America, any person of possible Arab descent today....all of these races have undergone a campaign of dehumanization. Those in power subtly manipulated the general population until that population was able to excuse widespread cruelty in their own minds. We always look at those historical periods with disgust and wonder how anyone could ever accept that level of cruelty, and yet it happens over and over again throughout history.


A few reasons why I did NOT like this novel:

1. The author cannot seem to find her main point or theme. If her theme is the importance of individuality, I think she fails. The book ends with something that complete negates a theme that highlights the importance of individuality---so it can't be that.

2. The author's knowledge of cloning is all wrong. She attempts to sway her audience against the entire IDEA without fully understanding the concept. Clones would not be exact copies of their DNA donors. Environment is almost as largely responsible for who we are as our DNA is. At one point, I think she is going to explore this knowledge further, but I ended up being convinced that she just doesn't KNOW that even PHYSICAL traits are affected by environmental factors. Fingerprints are even affected by the force and pressure of things happening in the womb. Identical twins have the same DNA, and yet they are not identical. The same basic principles apply to clones. So, the thing that happens at the end...impossible.

3. The plot is all over the place. It has no direction.

4. The characterizations are flat. The emotions are hollow. The reader has no background for anyone, or sense of setting.

5. The author breaks the cardinal rule of writing: "Show! Don't tell!!" She tells and tells and tells, but never SHOWS us anything. For instance, we are TOLD that the character of Steven is "okay." He's apparently the one character in this drug lord's family that is not evil. Yet, we are not SHOWN this. Why is Steven "okay?" How does Matt know this? Then, when Steven betrays Matt, are we supposed to be appalled? We have no emotional attachment to Steven. Why did we think he WOULDN'T betray Matt?

6. Like I said, there is no continuity. No over-arching theme. After leaving the compound, Matt goes to another country. Once there it seems that this story is devolving into a diatribe on socialism. Which, irritated me INCREDIBLY. I couldn't be more sick of this "evils of socialism" storyline. However, at least going on about socialism was giving this novel a POINT!!!! YET, it didn't commit to the evil socialism theme. It turned out that the government was something else entirely. So, I don't know what that bit about the socialist orphanage was. It was completely out of place.

Then....the story devolved further....and went a place that left me completely flummoxed and angry that I wasted my time with this horrible written dreck (Matt at one point says: I was, quite literally, the underdog. Oh really Ms. Author? Was he LITERALLY an underdog? Not figuratively?).

Ultimately, I am most angry that this type of fiction is winning awards. That our children are assigned badly-written propaganda to read in high school English instead of quality literature

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