Iowa Teen Award
2006 · Young Adult · Nominee
About This Book
MATTEO ALACRAN WAS NOT BORN; HE WAS HARVESTED. His DNA came from 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's first cell split and divided inside a petri dish. Then he was placed in the womb of a cow, where he continued the miraculous journey from embryo to fetus to baby. He is a boy now, but most consider him a monster -- except for El Patron. El Patron loves Matt as he loves himself, because Matt is himself.
As Matt struggles to understand his existence, he is threatened by a sinister cast of characters, including El Patron's power-hungry family, and he is surrounded by a dangerous army of bodyguards. Escape is the only chance Matt has to survive. But escape from the Alacran Estate is no guarantee of freedom, because Matt is marked by his difference in ways he doesn't even suspect.
As Matt struggles to understand his existence, he is threatened by a sinister cast of characters, including El Patron's power-hungry family, and he is surrounded by a dangerous army of bodyguards. Escape is the only chance Matt has to survive. But escape from the Alacran Estate is no guarantee of freedom, because Matt is marked by his difference in ways he doesn't even suspect.
Series Placement
Awards
Nutmeg Book Award
2006 · Teen · Nominee
Young Hoosier Book Award
2006 · Middle Grades · Winner
Colorado Blue Spruce Award
2005 · Young Adult · Nominee
Eliot Rosewater Indiana High School Book Award
2005 · Grades 9-12 · Nominee
Evergreen Young Adult Book Award
2005 · Young Adult · Nominee
Grand Canyon Reader Award
2005 · Teen · Winner
Nevada Young Readers' Award
2005 · Young Adult · Winner
Rebecca Caudill Young Readers Book Award
2005 · Grades 4-8 · Nominee
South Carolina Childrens, Junior and Young Adult Book Award
2005 · Junior Book · Winner
South Carolina Childrens, Junior and Young Adult Book Award
2005 · Young Adult · Nominee
Young Reader's Choice Award
2005 · Senior/Grades 10-12 · Winner
Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award
2004 · Children's · Nominee
Rhode Island Teen Book Award
2004 · Ages 12 & Up · Winner
Sequoyah Book Award
2004 · Young Adult · Winner
Volunteer State Book Award
2004 · Young Adult · Winner
Bookseller's Choice
2003 · Young Adult · Winner
Tayshas Reading
2003 · Young Adult · Commended
Michael L. Printz Award
2003 · Young Adult · Honor Book
Newbery Medal
2003 · Children's · Honor Book
National Book Award
2002 · Young People's Literature · Winner
Parents Choice Award (Fall) (1998-2007)
2002 · Recommended · Winner
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