Book Review #1

Abagi, Karen

October 31, 2016

English, Period 4

The House of the Scorpion

Nancy Farmer

Science Fiction

380 pages

Newbery Award Winner, Newbery Honor, and National Book Award

         Matteo Alacrán is not like everyone else, he is a clone. He is a cell split and divided inside a Petri dish and put inside a cow from which he is born from. He is the clone of Matteo Alacrán, also known as El Pátron. El Pátron is the drug lord who lives in Opium, Mexico. Unlike most clones Matt was given a brain. Clones were usually born with brains, but after birth they were to be brain dead. The novel The House of the Scorpion talks about Matteo's life from birth to age fourteen. Little Matteo lived in the poppy fields with a cook/maid named Celia ever since he was born. Everyday Celia would go to work and lock him at home. He was taught to never ever to talk to people outside the house; she told him all the people were bad and cruel. Matt wakes up one morning thinking it's a normal day but little did he know his whole life was about to change. Three kids show up at his door, 6 year old Matt was hungry for company and decided to rebel against the rules. Since the door was locked he decided to break the window but while doing so he fell out the window and had glass shards in his skin. The three kids Steven, Emilia, and Maria took Matt to the Opium estate but to his surprise the maid Rosa threw him out. That was the moment he and everyone else had learned he's a clone. After that he was treated differently, he was treated like an animal. Since Celia didn't know where he was she could not rescue him. Rosa had kept him in an empty room with sawdust; it was like he lived in a chicken pen. Maria was his only friend and she rescued him. After several months Maria told Celia, who told El Pátron. Matt was in terrible shape and when El Pátron saw he had Rosa turned into an eejit, a brainless slave. After that day Matt lived in luxury. From that point on he was educated, fed, and was spoiled with presents on his birthdays. The only thing that wasn't smooth like butter in his life was the looks he got for being a clone, but he learned to deal with it. At age fourteen Matt finally learned why clones were made, he had learned the hard way. They were made to replace body parts especially the brain and heart. El Pátron had a heart attack and Matt knew what would happen, he would die if he couldn't help it.

           The House of the Scorpion was a great book! I didn't give out the ending of the book because I feel like you should read it yourself to find out whether he escaped his fate or not. It was a very creative unusual topic, the clone of a drug lord. I mean who would ever think of that topic without a reason behind it. I wonder what inspired the author, Nancy Farmer. I feel like it emphasizes the teaching of not judging. Everyone judged Matt for being a clone, they thought he was different, they thought he was an animal. In reality Matt was just as normal as everyone else. As much as I loved the book I felt like it was elongated. The book would have been perfect if the author had shortened the story a bit. There were so many details, characters, and settings it became like mush. Overall I would recommend this book. It was an amazing book and if you decide to read it I hope you like it.