The House of the Scorpion

You may have already read this one. The House of the Scorpion was published a little over a decade ago, enough time to earn lots of shiny awards to display on its cover. Author Nancy Farmer has published much since then, for children, young adults and adults. (I love that she publicly answers readers questions on her website).

The book takes place in Opium, a country between the US and Aztlán (formerly called Mexico). Farmer grew up on the Arizona-Mexico border, which no doubt helped her capture the flavour of the setting. The story follows the life of Matt, clone of the aging drug lord El Patrón. El Patrón rules Opium, employing zombie workers called eejits to work in his poppy fields, and using body parts from his clones to keep himself alive for 146 years...

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