The House of the Scorpion

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 Alacrán 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 revolves around Matteo Alacran, a young clone struggling to find a place in a world that reviles him. To most people around him, Matt is not a boy, but a beast. A room full of chicken litter with roaches for friends and old chicken bones for toys is considered good enough for him. But for El Patron, druglord of a country between the U.S. and what was once called Mexico--Matt is a guarantee of eternal life. El Patron loves Matt as he loves himself, for Matt is himself. They share identical DNA.

Nancy Farmer has written three Newbery Honor books: The Ear, the Eye and the Arm; A Girl Named Disaster; and The House of the Scorpion, which, in 2002, also won the National Book Award and the Printz Honor. Other books include The Sea of Trolls, The Land of the Silver Apples, The Islands of the Blessed, Do You Know Me, The Warm Place, and three picture books for young children. She grew up on the Arizona-Mexico border and now lives with her family in the Chiricahua Mountains of Arizona. Raúl Esparza starred on Broadway in The Homecoming, Company (Tony nom., Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Award), Taboo (Drama Desk Award), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and Cabaret. On television he had a recurring role on the ABC series Pushing Daisies. His film credits include Sydney Lumet's FInd Me Guilty.

Contents

YOUTH: 0 TO 6

1. In the Beginning

2. The Little House in the Poppy Fields

3. Property of the Alacrán Estate

4. María

5. Prison

MIDDLE AGE: 7 TO 11

6. El Patrón

7. Teacher

8. The Eejit in the Dry Field

9. The Secret Passage

10. A Cat with Nine Lives

11. The Giving and Taking of Gifts

12. The Thing on the Bed

13. The Lotus Pond

14. Celia's Story

OLD AGE: 12 TO 14

15. A Starved Bird

16. Brother Wolf

17. The Eejit Pens

18. The Dragon Hoard

19. Coming-of-Age

20. Esperanza

21. Blood Wedding

22. Betrayal

AGE 14

23. Death

24. A Final Good-bye

25. The Farm Patrol

LA VIDA NUEVA

26. The Lost Boys

27. A Five-legged Horse

28. The Plankton Factory

29. Washing a Dusty Mind

30. When the Whales Lost Their Legs

31. Ton-Ton

32. Found Out

33. The Boneyard

34. The Shrimp Harvester

35. El Día de los Muertos

36. The Castle on the Hill

37. Homecoming

38. The House of Eternity