Farmer, N. (2002). House of the Scorpion. New York: Atheneum.I read this book for my graduate class. I was not too thrilled about it. Sadly, sometimes I'm one of those people who judges a book by its cover and its title, literally. But, like a good student, I read the book. After a few chapters, it was so hard to our or down.
House of the Scorpion is a fantasy/science fiction novel set in the future in a place called Opium: a fictitious country between U.S. and Mexico. It this world, the drug lords reign.
The lead drug lord (El Parton) has a clone created--clones are very common during the time if you are rich. We see the events unfold through the clone's eyes. Matt is the name of the narrator, but something is different about this particular clone: he has intelligence. Matt doesn't know what his purpose in life is and how he can relate to other people.
House of the Scorpion can bring up some very interesting discussions in class: the effects of the drug community, the presence of science/cloning, prejudice, etc. Farmer also uses several literary devices, so the novel could be used easily in an ELA classroom. I love how she alludes to the Egyptian pharaohs burial practices. It foreshadows the ending very well.
Related Readings:
The Hunger Games
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