| Source: Children Come First http://www.childrencomefirst.com/bkreviewHouseOfScorpion.shtml Reviews This young adult novel is easy enough for 5th graders to understand yet should prove a fascinating read for older readers as well. In The House of the Scorpion, Nancy Farmer, a two-time Newbery honoree, brings us the world of genetic engineering up front and personal. Using her marvelous storytelling skills she presents the reader with the ethical and philosophical questions we all should be grappling with as human cloning moves forward. The reader is caught from the very first page where life is brought forth in the lab. The tiny little cell grows and Matt, the main character, is born. Even if you are not a fantasy/science-fiction fan I think you would love this book. Matt is so real, so vulnerable, so amazing. And, with the newsbreaking story recently about the birth of a human clone, this story is not as sci-fi as one would wish it to be. I found myself crying...no, make that sobbing...at parts of the book. The writing was that poignant. And I so wanted Matt to make it...kept silently cheering him on throughout the entire 380 pages. It is an excellent read and one that should provide great discussions both inside and outside the classroom. A tremendous addition to classroom and home libraries everywhere! Read the book and let's talk about it on the CCF Forum. It's a July/December 2003 CCF Book Club selection. Science fiction, fantasy and the human story all rolled into one phenomenal read. Don't miss it! Author: Nancy Farmer Publisher Marketing: To most people around him, Matt is not a boy, but a beast. A room full of chicken litter with roaches for friends and old chicken bones for toys is considered good enough for him. But for El Patron, lord of a country called Opium -- a strip of poppy fields lying between the United States and what was once called Mexico Matt is a guarantee of eternal life. El Patron loves Matt as he loves himself -- for Matt is himself. They share identical DNA. As Matt struggles to understand his existence, he is threatened by sinister characters, including El Patron's power-hungry family. He is surrounded by a dangerous army of bodyguards and by the mindless slaves of Opium, brain-dead eejits who toil in the poppy fields. And escape is no guarantee of freedom because Matt is marked by his difference in ways he doesn't even suspect. Around every turn in this vivid, futuristic adventure is a heart-stopping surprise with unforgettable consequences. [ |
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