The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer

That however is not true and El Patron has a done a number of terrible things and Tam-Lin has been by his side through a number of them and has seen the old man grow more and more evil. Matt is very trusting of El Patron and sees him as nearly infallible. He grew large and green until he shadowed over the whole forest, but most of his branches are twisted.’ This short saying holds very strong meaning because Matt sees El Patron as a powerful man that is extremely kind to him. When he was young, he made a choice, like a tree does when it decides to grow one way or the other. Very dark indeed is his majesty when he wants to be. Tam-Lin then say ‘I’ll tell you this, El Patrón has his good side and his bad side. Tam-Lin, Matt’s bodyguard is talking about El Patron the man that Matt sees as an idol and someone who seems very gentle and kind. The novel ends with Matt as he prepares to erase the damage done by El Patrón during his tyrannical reign. Eventually, at the end of the novel, Matt returns to opium and takes over the throne of his country after El Patrón’s death. Matt finally gets away to live with María and her mother Esperanza, who is involved in the opium protests and the politics surrounding them. Where he is still treated badly, he has to work vigorously and fend for himself. With the help of these friends, Matt finally goes to Aztlán, previously known as Mexico. He takes on a series isolation, prejudice, isolation, violence, illness, and death threats – all before the age of fourteen! Matt happily finds a family within his time residing at the Alacran estate: his mother figure Celia, his bodyguard Tam Lin and his love interest María. But when Matt is taken to the big house of the estate of Alacran, in the land of opium, Matt’s life takes a black turn.

He lives in with his Celia his motherly figure, who works for the Alacrán family as a cook. Matt’s childhood was decent other than the hate he receives from the Alacran family. House of Scorpion is a dark and complicated story.

The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer