by Nancy Farmer
First published 2004
Matt lives trapped between two worlds in Opium, a nation of poppy fields stretching between the United States and Mexico. At his coming-of-age celebration, he learns the brutal truth from Tam Lin, El Patrón's bodyguard. Matt was not born but harvested, grown in a cow and cut from her body. To most people, he remains nothing more than a beast. They force him to live in filth with roaches as companions and chicken bones as playthings. But El Patrón, the powerful lord who rules this drug empire, treasures Matt above all else. Matt serves as his guarantee of living forever because they share the same DNA. El Patrón loves Matt exactly as he loves himself, for Matt is himself. This clone must navigate a world that sees him as less than human while discovering his own identity. His journey becomes one of friendship and survival as he fights to transcend his origins and find hope in a place designed to crush it.
Genres: science-fiction, dystopia, coming-of-age, family-drama
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: Opium, United States, Mexico
Period: 21st-century
380 pages · Paperback · Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Content warnings: child-abuse