The Sea of Trolls

Tapiwa's Uncle: Do You Know Me

The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights

Mouseheart

Loyalty

The Subtle Knife: His Dark Materials

A Night Divided

Heart of a Samurai

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

The Sea of Trolls

Nancy Farmer, 2004

Tapiwa's Uncle: Do You Know Me

Nancy Farmer, 1993

The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights

Steve Sheinkin, 2014

Mouseheart

Lisa Fiedler, Vivienne To, 2014

Loyalty

Avi, 2022

The Subtle Knife: His Dark Materials

Philip Pullman, 2022

A Night Divided

Jennifer A. Nielsen, 2015

Heart of a Samurai

Margi Preus, 2010