The House of the Scorpion

Matt's narrative becomes an amazing tale of friendship, survival, hope, and transcendence, with overtones of Frankenstein, vampires, dragons' hoards, and killing fields. A adolescent fantasy fan's must-read.

Matteo Alacrán asks El Patrón's bodyguard, "How old am I?," during his coming-of-age celebration.I was born, even though I don't have a birthday as others do."

He is reminded, "You were harvested," by Tam Lin. "You were grown in that poor cow for nine months and then you were cut out of her."

Matt is seen by most as a beast rather than a kid. He considers a room filled of chicken litter, roaches for buddies, and old chicken bones for toys to be adequate. However, Matt is a promise of perpetual life to El Patrón, the ruler of a nation named Opium, which is a strip of poppy fields between the United States and what was once known as Mexico. Because Matt is himself, El Patrón loves him as much as he loves himself. Their DNA is the same.