Mouseheart

Loyalty

Heart of a Samurai

Overground Railroad

The True Meaning of Smekday

The Flag Never Touched The Ground : America's Brave Black Regiment in Battle

School of the Dead

The Interrupted Tale

The House of the Scorpion

With undertones of vampires, Frankenstein, dragons' hoards, and killing fields, Matt's story turns out to be an inspiring tale of friendship, survival, hope, and transcendence. A must-read for teenage fantasy fans.

At his coming-of-age party, Matteo Alacrán asks El Patrón's bodyguard, "How old am I?...I know I don't have a birthday like humans, but I was born."

"You were harvested," Tam Lin reminds him. "You were grown in that poor cow for nine months and then you were cut out of her."

To most people around him, Matt is not a boy, but a beast. A room full of chicken litter with roaches for friends and old chicken bones for toys is considered good enough for him. But for El Patrón, lord of a country called Opium—a strip of poppy fields lying between the U.S. and what was once called Mexico—Matt is a guarantee of eternal life. El Patrón loves Matt as he loves himself for Matt is himself. They share identical DNA.

Discover Your Child's Next Read

Mouseheart

Lisa Fiedler, Vivienne To, 2014

Loyalty

Avi, 2022

Heart of a Samurai

Margi Preus, 2010

Overground Railroad

Lesa Cline-Ransome, James E. Ransome, 2020

The True Meaning of Smekday

Adam Rex, 2007

The Flag Never Touched The Ground : America's Brave Black Regiment in Battle

Kekla Magoon, 2021

School of the Dead

Avi, 2016

The Interrupted Tale

Maryrose Wood, 2013