The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer

Ever heard of Dolly, the 1st cloned sheep. Well, in the future, she’s not the only one. Imagine a future where you could be live forever, or at least into your mid 100’s, all courtesy of your clone. Don’t worry about heart, lung or liver failure because you’ll be able to get a new one, a perfect match. That’s right. Your clone is created for the sole purpose of keeping you alive. When it is born, or rather harvested from the womb of a special cow, its intelligence is destroyed leaving the clone to be viewed as an animal rather than human. It sounds harsh but that’s the price for eternal life. There is one clone who has been saved. Matteo Alacran (Matt) is the clone of the El Patron, the leader of a country called Opium, a strip of poppy growing fields wedged between the US and the former country of Mexico. El Patron wasn’t always a rich, powerful drug lord. He lived a miserable life of poverty and that is why he has always given his clones a happy, healthy childhood. So happy in fact, that Matt has no clue that he is a clone, until the 148 year old El Patron needs him for more than just company. Now Matt will find out what it really means to be part of the House of the Scorpion.