The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer

(How can he be human if he was grown in and harvested from a cow?) Nancy Farmer takes Matt's character on a journey of self-discovery and self-awareness that allows him to accept that he is not what he is told he is, that he is as much of a human being as any person around him. Matt is a clone and is defined by people around him as livestock, a source of body parts, and not a human being. (For some reason, the majority of stories about clones focus on exactly the same things.) Yes, it is horrifying in how it examines the (familiar) debate about a clone's humanity and soulless(ful)ness. The first two thirds of the book are riveting. I'd say, its first 215 pages and the last 20 are ( ebook edition). It practically has my name written on it.īut, is The House of the Scorpion worth such an overwhelming acclaim though? Just look at its accolades - National Book Award Winner, Printz Honoree, Newbery Honoree. I have no idea why I've been avoiding The House of the Scorpion for so long. 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.įlannery made me do it and I am pleased that she did. Escape is the only chance Matt has to survive. El Patrón loves Matt as he loves himself, because Matt is himself.Īs 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. He is a boy now, but most consider him a monster-except for El Patrón. Then he was placed in the womb of a cow, where he continued the miraculous journey from embryo to fetus to baby.

Matt's first cell split and divided inside a petri dish. 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. Blurb: Matteo Alacrán was not born he was harvested.

The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer