The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer

Genre: Fanciful Fiction
Themes: Trust, Discrimination, Greed, Coming of Age
Grade Level: Young Adult
Curricular Connections: Science/Health (Cloning, Stem Cell Research, Organ Transplants), English (Writing, Sequencing Events)

140 year old El Patron, a druglord in the country of Opium, is able to prolong his life by harvesting organs from clones. These are clones of himself that are injected with a fluid that will blunt their intelligence and leave them more like animals to live until their organs are needed. One of the clones is not given the injection. This clone is the main character Matt, who is sent to live with Celia, one of El Patron's cooks. He lives happily with her until he is five and discovered by children from El Patron's house. Once the adults recognize him as a clone, he is caged and treated like an animal for 6 months by his new caregiver Rosa. One day El Patron asks to see Matt to make sure he is healthy and being cared for properly. When he sees Matt's condition is put back under Celia's care, and they are both moved into an apartment in the big house where Matt is pampered and educated. While many of the servants avoid him and grandchildren of El Patron tease and bully him, he learns he can trust Celia and his body guard Tam Lin. Although it is rocky at times, he also finds a friend in Maria. As Matt grows up in the house, he eventually learns that his purpose is to grow up with a healthy heart that will be transplanted into El Patron. When El Patron is in need of the heart, Celia reveals that she has slowly been poisoning Matt's blood. The poison is not enough to harm Matt, but it makes his heart useless to El Patron who eventually dies. Tam Lin helps him escape and Matt runs to Mexico and works in a plankton factory with other lost boys who live little better than slaves. Matt makes his way back home, where he claims his place in the family and rids his country of the drug business.

Classroom Suggestions:

1. At the end of chapter one Eduardo asks himself the following question when he doesn't give Matt the injection to blunt his intelligence, "Have I done you a favor? Will you thank me for it later?" Have students write an essay answering the question. Encourage them to use story evidence to back up their opinions.

2.Have students create a timeline of events showing how Matt's opinion of El Patron changes during the course of the story. Students could also show Matt's changing self-image through events on a time line.

3. Ask students to research cloning, stem cell research, or organ transplants. Have them write a report and then share the information they learned with the class. Tell them to be prepared to share their opinions as well.