The House of the Scorpion
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  Armin the breathless action and fascinating characters ofThe 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'sHolesin the camaraderie of  imprisoned boys and the layers of meaning embedded in this irresistibly  compelling story. (Ages 12 and older)--Patty Campbell--This text refers to theHardcoveredition.