by Nancy Farmer
First published 2022
Matt Alacrán stands at the center of a crumbling empire. The fourteen-year-old was created from El Patrón's DNA, grown as a clone to serve the powerful drug lord. Now El Patrón is dead and Matt controls Opium, a nation built on the former US-Mexico border. Armies of microchipped workers toil under his command, their minds wiped clean and reprogrammed to manufacture the drugs that fuel Opium's economy. The territory maintains clean air and water while the outside world chokes on pollution and decay. Matt faces an impossible choice. He can continue the brutal system that sustains his power, or he can risk everything to break the cycle of violence that has defined Opium for generations. His decision depends on finding people he can trust in a world where loyalty is manufactured and free will is a luxury. Matt must navigate the treacherous politics of his inheritance while wrestling with what it means to be human in a world of artificial minds.
Genres: science-fiction, dystopia, young-adult, 21st-century
Vibes: dark, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: chosen-one, found-family, moral-dilemma
Setting: Opium, United States, Mexico
Period: 21st Century
448 pages · Paperback · Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Content warnings: drug-use, violence