"The House of the Scorpion" by Nancy Farmer follows the life of Matteo Alacrán, a young clone of the powerful drug lord El Patrón, who rules the country of Opium, a strip of land between the United States and Aztlán (formerly Mexico). As Matt grows up, he struggles with his identity and humanity in a society that views clones as mere animals. Through his friendship with a girl named María and encounters with various characters, including the ruthless El Patrón, Matt seeks to understand his purpose, escape his predetermined fate, and fight for his freedom in a world that is hostile to his very existence. [Generated by language model - please report any problems].

This book is aimed at children at US 7th grade+.

This book has been graded for interest at 12-17 years.

There are 400 pages in this book.

It is aimed at Young Adult readers. The term Young Adult (YA) is used for books which have the following characteristics: (1) aimed at ages 12-18 years, US grades 7-12, UK school years 8-15, (2) around 50-75k words long, (3) main character is aged 12-18 years, (4) topics include self-reflection, internal conflict vs external, analyzing life and its meaning, (5) point of view is often in the first person, and (6) swearing, violence, romance and sexuality are allowed.

This book was published in 2004 by Simon & Schuster .

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 also won the National Book Award and the Printz Honor. Other books include The Lord of Opium, 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.