In the riveting sequel to the acclaimed bestseller The House of the Scorpion, Matt reels from the change in status quo and struggles to do the right thing; find out his story’s end in this new edition with a reimagined cover!

Matt Alacrán is a fourteen-year-old drug lord.

Until recently, Matt was just a clone grown from a strip of El Patrón’s skin. Now he is lord of the land of Opium, on the one-time US–Mexico border, and rules over an army of microchipped, zombielike workers who are programmed to produce the drugs that are Opium’s main export. El Patrón kept the air and water in Opium clean, but the rest of the world is a polluted wasteland.

Matt is sure that, in his new position, he can find a way to break the cycle of violence and destruction—but it will only be possible if he chooses the right people to trust.

About The Author

Photo Credit:

Nancy Farmer

Nancy Farmer has written three Newbery Honor books: The Ear, the Eye and the Arm; A Girl Named Disaster; and The House of the Scorpion, which also won the National Book Award and the Printz Honor. Other books include The Lord of Opium, The Sea of Trolls, The Land of the Silver Apples, The Islands of the Blessed, Do You Know Me, The Warm Place, and three picture books for young children. She grew up on the Arizona-Mexico border and now lives with her family in the Chiricahua Mountains of Arizona.

Product Details

Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers (September 3, 2013)
Length: 432 pages
ISBN13: 9781442482562
Ages: 12 - 99
Lexile ® HL700L The Lexile reading levels have been certified by the Lexile developer, MetaMetrics®

Raves and Reviews

* "Farmer’s near-future world offers an electric blend of horrors and beauty. Lyrically written and filled with well-rounded, sometimes thorny characters. . . . [a] superb novel." - Publishers Weekly, starred review

* "A stellar sequel worth the wait.” - Booklist, starred review

“A vividly imagined tale of a future world full of fascinating characters and moral themes—a tremendous backdrop for one young man’s search for identity.”

– Kirkus Reviews