Chapters 30- 38

Chapter 30- Matt and Chacho see something in the distance. They go to check it out and realize that it's bones--whale bones. Ton-Ton gets in trouble for stealing a holo-game while cleaning the Keepers room. Jorge gets a cane while Ton-Ton leans on the wall. When Jorge comes back, he beats Ton-Ton. Fidelito confesses for Matt, but then Matt stops him and takes the beating himself. It isn't as bad because Jorge used all of his energy on Ton-Ton. All the boys are suddenly proud of Matt, but he says all he did was give up. Flaco tells him if news of the beating gets back to Keeper Headquarters, he'll be gone. Matt goes to the infirmary and sees Ton-Ton. The worker gives him laudanum for his wounds.

Chapter 31- Matt wakes up to Ton-Ton and the pockmarked boy, Luna, talking. Ton-Ton says that all the boys train to be Keepers. Matt doesn't understand since there is only twenty Keepers and there are two hundred and ten boys. Matt asks Ton-Ton about the inside of the Keeper compound. Ton-Ton explains about all the wonderful things that they get and the boys don't, like good food. Matt finds out that the Keepers take laudanum every night because they earned it. Matt asks if they know where St. Luis is. Ton-Ton replies that he is from there. Ton-Ton tells Matt that St. Luis is great. Matt realizes he has acne. He tries to scrub it off, but it won't come off. Jorge makes Matt and Ton-Ton work the next day. Matt decides that he will take Chacho and Fidelito with him to St. Luis. Matt, Chacho, and Fidelito wait for Ton-Ton to come over to them so they can talk. He think they are going to attack him. Ton-Ton explains that he owes his life to Jorge because Jorge saved him. When they leave, Matt mentions Celia carelessly. He tells Chacho that Celia is his mother. He remembered lots of memories. Fidelito asks if Matt is sick and Chacho says he is so Fidelito wouldn't see him crying.

Chapter 32- Jorge decides he will have to go after Fidelito to get to Matt. He decides to beat Fidelito. Matt tackles Jorge and Chacho helps him. The other Keepers come in. The Lost Boys stand up for Chacho and Matt, but the Keepers take them anyway. They throw them in a closet and Matt is afraid that Chacho will shrink away from him.

Chapter 33- Matt and Chacho are carried away with tape around their wrists, ankles, and on their mouths. They get thrown into the boneyard and Chacho freaks out because he sees bats. With one slip, the two could slip to their deaths. Matt tries to find Chacho. Matt tells Chacho all about Opium. The bats return and Chacho gets afraid. Matt has them on him, but he is completely calm. He finds water, and tries to get Chacho to follow his voice. He hears a noise from the bones. Matt recognizes it as snoring. Chacho got so scared that he fell asleep.

Chapter 34- Matt tries to get Chacho to reply, and when he doesn't he is afraid he is dead. He heard a noise and thought it was Jorge in his cart. It turns out to be Ton-Ton's shrimp harvester. Ton-Ton and Fidelito are coming to the rescue! Ton-Ton uses the harvester to get Chacho out of the boneyard. Fidelito doesn't understand why he's not awake, so Ton-Ton explains it. Ton-Ton wakes Chacho from his shock. Ton-Ton drives the harvester to the fence so they can leave. Fidelito and Ton-Ton explain that the Keepers have been given a lot of laudanum and the Lost Boys have put salt all around the Keepers chambers. Ton-Ton has to stop because the harvest runs on solar energy and it is almost nighttime. Matt and Fidelito head towards St. Luis to find a doctor.

I read 49 pages.

Interesting Quotation: "Carlos says every boy who keeps the Five Principle of Good Citizenship and, uh, the Four Attitudes Leading to Right-Mindfulness until he reaches eighteen becomes a Keeper," said Ton-Ton." ~Page 307, Lines 4-7~ Any boy who acts correctly get to become a Keeper later in life. That's what the boys are told anyway. There are only twenty Keeper positions, so not all of the boys will actually get to follow through with that. The Keepers only say that so that the boys will act right.

Chapter 35- Matt tells Fidelito all about the Convent of Santa Clara even though he knew nothing about it. As they reach the Colorado River, they see something get sucked down a drain and they run. Matt almost has an asthma attack and Fidelito finds help. A woman shows up with an inhaler. He comes to and sees a woman and a man. Matt realizes it looks like a party. Fidelito explains that it's El Dia de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead. The man, Guapo, is going to town and offers to take the boys to see Chacho at the Convent of Santa Clara. Consuela, the woman, gives Matt and Fidelito masks so the Keepers on the streets won't recognize them.

Chapter 36- Fidelito explains to Matt more about the holiday. Matt sees people on the streets in costumes. Guapo gets Matt and Fidelito as close to the Convent as he can. They have to walk the rest of the way. As they get to the top, a nurse lets them in. They say they are there for Chacho and Maria. Soon after they get there, Carlos, Jorge, and Ton-Ton arrive. Carlos, Jorge, Ton-Ton, and Matt get in a fight. Esperanza stops the fight. Esperanza busts the Keepers for drugs. Maria runs in and hugs Matt really tightly.

Chapter 37- Esperanza tells Matt about a plan to get into Opium. Opium is in a lockdown. No one and nothing gets in or out. In this state, only El Patron can go in and out. Meaning, most likely, Matt can go in and out. Matt is to go in to Opium. He is now the leader of Opium. He is El Patron's clone, and El Patron died, therefore making him the new leader. Maria is completely opposed to the idea. He could get blown out of the sky. He safely makes it into Opium. He headed to the house. When he entered, he heard someone playing the piano. He runs in and stops them. It is Mr. Ortega. Celia comes in and starts to explain a few things to him. She tells him El Patron cared for anything he ever got. Especially him.

Chapter 38- Celia says she heard the wake from the stables. Daft Donald types out everything that happened. There was wine that everyone was supposed to drink when El Patron died. Tam Lin knew something was funny about it and told Daft Donald not to drink it. Everyone but Daft Donald did, even Tam Lin. After a minute, they all fell to the ground dead. El Patron did this because when he owned something, it was always his and he inteneded to keep it that way. Matt leaves and orders a Safe Horse. Matt started thinking about memories with Tam Lin and how he is the new leader of Opium. Matt headed to the cave. He finds a dark passage and looks inside. Matt sees lots of gold coins and treasures. He realizes that it is the beginning of El Patron's cache. Matt discovers that he can make it through this an everything will be okay.

I read 35 pages.

Interesting Quotation: ""It means you really are El Patron. You have his body and his identity. You own everything he owned and rule everything he ruled. It means you're the new Master of Opium."' ~Page 367, Lines 10-12~ Matt always was a real person. But, there can't be two of one person, so one must be unhuman. Matt is finally considered a human since El Patron died. Matt can do anything El Patron ever could. He gets anything that El Patron had.

Chapters 26- 29

Chapter 26- A man pulls Matt out of the goo. He asks Matt about his family and Matt doesn't have an answer. Matt thanks the Keepers. They say he is an aristocrat. They tell Matt that he will be headed to the plankton factory in St. Luis. He knows a little about water purification and he wants to go to St. Luis. He stays with the Keepers that night. When he meets the Lost Boys, Matt is bombarded with questions. The Keepers quieten everyone down and answer the questions. Raul takes Matt over to Chacho. Chacho talks back to Raul and gets in trouble. Raul soon leaves. Chacho explain that they will have to work before, during, and after their trip the next day. Fidelito and Chacho explain that everything there is hard but it's fair. Fidelito asks Matt about his parents and Matt explains. Fidelito tries to speak of his, but he chokes up. Chacho takes bad about the Keepers. Someone tells Chacho to quiet down and he says he'd love for them to hear.

Chapter 27- The Lost Boys that have never seen their parents, think they made if safely to the United States. At lunch, all the boys have to recite the Five Principles of Good Citizenship and the Four Attitudes Leading to Right- Mindfulness. Matt asks Chacho what he is making and he tells him that it's a guitar. He explains that his father taught him. After they shower, Raul comes to read them a bedtime story. The story is about individualism. If a horse has five legs, and one does whatever it wants while the other four are doing what they are supposed to, the fifth should be cut off. Matt suggests they turn it into an eejit. Raul gets mad that Matt is talking back to him. He calls him an aristocrat and left. All the Lost Boys congratulate Matt.

Chapter 28- At mid-morning, Raul gets the boys going to St. Luis ready. When they get on, Fidelito informs the other two that he gets airsick. They give him the bag of plastic. They soon enough arrive. The smell is awful and it looks dirty. Matt pulls Fidelito away and Chacho follows. The Keepers soon find them and ask about them. They make Chacho and Matt clean the hovercraft. After they clean, Carlos, the keeper, gives them a tour. He tells them all about plankton. They eat plankton for every meal, just in different ways. They see the Gulf of California. There are no longer whale there because it is so polluted. It explains where Opium's water comes from. Fidelito explains that a hurricane came to his village. When Carlos catches the three of them not working, they get in trouble for not working. Matt asks if Fidelito can ride with Carlos, and Carlos says everyone must walk. Matt points out that Carlos isn't walking and once again gets in trouble.

Chapter 29- Matt is curious as to why everyone is calling him the aristocrat. Chacho says it's because of his manners and the way he speaks. Jorge tells them a story about how a mind can get dirty. Jorge asks Matt a question and he gets told it's wrong. Ton-Ton, another Lost Boy, answers the question correctly. Everyone but Chacho and Fidelito insulted Matt after Jorge left. Matt begins to think about things that Maria, El Patron, Celia, and Tam Lin have said to him. They are all about how he is a real boy and they love him.

I read 34 pages.

Interesting Quotation- ""So if we work steadily and don't loaf," said Jorge, "our work doesn't have time to get dirty. But our minds can fill up with dust and germs too."" ~Page 290, Line 23- 25~ The Keepers want the boys constantly working. They can fill their minds with the one thought that all prisoners get-- escape. They have to have someone to "help". If they don't have anyone to help, they have no job. When the boys constantly work, they can't think about anything but work.

Chapters 21- 25

Chapter 21- Everyone is planning for Steven and Emilia's wedding. Matt gets excited when Maria arrives. He takes her to the music room to talk to her. Matt gave her the book, A History of Opium. She instantly recognizes her mother. She gave it back knowing her father would be furious if he found it. Matt watched the wedding with a telescope. Someone shouted something about El Patron. Matt looked at the old man through his telescope and saw him grab his heart and fall out of his wheelchair. Tam Lin carried him out and to the hospital. Emilia and Steven were left standing at the alter.

Chapter 22- Matt doesn't know what to do. Celia told him to go to the pantry if anything bad happened and Tam Lin warned Matt that El Patron could have an evil side. Matt stays in the passage. He soon sees a flashlight and turns to see Maria. Matt doesn't understand why they are looking for him. Maria has an idea that can be fatal. They have to get to the Mendoza hovercraft. The fatal part is that there is a door that only El Patron can open. Matt may or may not be able to get it open. If it doesn't work, the hallway will be filled with a poisonous gas. He tries it, but it doesn't work. They run into a new opening. The passage leads them outside near the Mendoza hovercraft. Emilia comes to see Maria before she leaves for the convent. Emilia and Steven betray Matt and take him in instead of rescuing him. Maria tries to rescue him, but Emilia and Steven take him away.

Chapter 23- Matt wakes up strapped to a bed. El Patron talks to him and tells him his childhood story. At the end, he tells Matt that he is owed all the lives of his brothers and sisters. Celia stands up against El Patron. She tells him that she gave Matt foxglove and later arsenic. El Patron gets furious. They wheel him to the operating room. They took Celia away and left Matt. The next morning, they wheeled El Patron out. Mr. Alacran demands for Tam Lin to take Matt out. Matt believes that Tam Lin no longer cares about him.

Chapter 24- Tam Lin acts as if he is going to take Matt to the eejit pens, but he takes him to the path to the Ajo Mountains. Tam Lin tells Matt about the pathway. He tells Matt that he saved Celia from being turned in to an eejit. Matt wants Tam Lin to join him as he leaves. Tam Lin tells Matt that there is absolutely no difference between clones and humans. That his DNA is still human DNA. Tam Lin gives Matt money and tells him about it. Tam Lin says he has to leave and tells Matt what he is to do. Matt is to go to St. Luis and find Maria and hopefully her mother.

Chapter 25- Matt uses Tam Lin's notes on the trees as help to know where not to go. He continues on towards Aztlan. He worries about Celia and Tam Lin. He spends the night at the top of the ridge. Matt begins to hear noises. As he reaches the top cleft of the mountain, the noises get louder. He realizes it's music. He begins to slide down the mountainside. Matt looks through his binoculars and sees a member of the Farm Patrol. He looks around and sees more of them. As the Farm Patrol went after a group of people, Matt sees the chance and runs. He hears the Farm Patrol behind him. The Farm Patroller grabbed Matt's bag, but Matt just left it behind and ran across the Aztlan border and into slime.

I read 54 pages.

Interesting Quotation- ""No one can tell the difference between a clone and a human. That's because there isn't any difference. The idea of clones being inferior is a filthy lie."" ~Page 245, Lines 2-4~ Everyone believes that Matt is a dirty little creature because he is a clone, but in truth, clones are the same. They had human DNA. Others don't understand that Matt is a real boy. Just because he is a clone and was born differently doesn't mean anything.

Chapters 18-20

Chapter 18- Celia frantically wakes Matt up. He gets ready but is still confused. Celia lets him know that El Patron had a heart attack, but is not dead. They go to the hospital to see El Patron. Matt is upset for El Patron because he thinks he is going to die. Matt tells Tam Lin about him going to the eejit pens and Tam Lin yells at him. Matt stays by El Patron's bed. He asks why El Patron won't give anything away and El Patron blows up on him. Tam Lin tells him he is brave for asking El Patron that. Tam Lin explains what a dragon hoard is to Matt and they talk about El Patron's wealth.

Chapter 19- One day, while Matt is playing the guitar and singing, he voice cracks. Celia gets really excited that he is growing up. She decides to throw a party to celebrate. Matt asks if he was born like a calf. Tam Lin wants to explain it to him, but Celia refuses. Celia send Matt to bed saying he had had enough of the party. Matt thinks of Mr. MacGregor and how he just takes what he needs from his clone. Matt convinces himself that he wasn't made to be used for transplants. He tells himself that El Patron didn't have his brain destroyed and he would let him help rule the drug empire when El Patron dies. Celia and Tam Lin come up and Celia believes he has a fever.

Chapter 20- Matt goes to the stables to get a safe horse. He rode to the oasis. While Matt swam, he thought about Celia and Tam Lin. When he got to land, he began to read The History of Opium. He can't believe what Esperanza is saying about El Patron. When Matt reads about the author, he realizes she is Maria's mother. Matt is sick from swimming in the oasis when he gets back. Matt continues spending time with El Patron. El Patron calls Matt, Felipe, which was his son that died almost eighty years prior.

I read 24 pages.

Interesting Quotation- ""I'll get the dosage right next time," she said. "Do you want to ruin everything?" "Maybe your plan won't work out. We need a backup," Celia said. "You'll kill him." ~Celia and Tam Lin, Chapter 20, page 199~ Celia has been giving Matt arsenic so that El Patron can't do any transplants. Tam Lin is sure she is going to kill Matt because she got the dosage wrong. Celia is simply trying to save Matt from El Patron. If El Patron did take his heart, it would kill him because he is already so weak. The arsenic would kill him.

Chapter 17

Chapter 17- Matt tries to talk to Rosa when he goes to get his Safe Horse, but she never continues the conversation. He rides past the poppy fields and to his cave. He begins reading his book and sees El Patrons name. It tells of him being a drug dealer and that drugs were illegal. Matt can't continue the book because of the negative things it says towards El Patron. As he headed back, he stopped by the water purification plant. He wants to free the eejits. He can smell the dead fish and chemicals and sees where the waste goes. It goes to a bunch of buildings. He starts to pass out and these two people yank him up and drag him out. They think him an eejit. They then think he's an Illegal and start to take him to the hospital. Matt says if they do that, he'll tell the doctor how they treated El Patron's clone. They begin to talk to him about the eejit pens. They talk about where they are from to Matt and he thinks about how awful it sounds. He realizes why they aren't there anymore. They are murderers on the run. They tell him that Tam Lin tried to kill the prime minister by putting a bomb outside him house in London. They drop him off and quickly drive away as he walks in.

I read 11 pages.

Interesting Quotation: ""You do that," Matt repeated, "and I'll tell the doctor how you treated El Patron's clone."" Matt knows if he bosses people around like he's El Patron, he can get out off anything. He can just tell people he is El Patron's clone and they know not to mess with him.

Chapters 15-16

Chapter 15- Matt requests a horse to go riding. When the eejit brings it to him, he notices it is Rosa. He tries to talk to her, but she won't pay attention to him because she is an eejit. he rode to the poppy fields to see Celia's old house. He doesn't find it and assumes it must have been torn down when they left. He went to the cave and realized someone had been there. He sees a trunk and opens it. Inside there is a note addressed to him. It is from Tam Lin. He found food, supplies, and books. He makes sure to close the trunk before he leaves. When he returns, everyone is in a panic. He asks Celia why everyone is like this and she says El Viejo is dead. When they get there, Matt sees Maria and Tom holding hands. There is a children's choir and they are all eejits. When the priest sees Matt, he is furious. He doesn't believe this thing should be there. Celia says that El Patron wanted him there. Maria comes over and takes up for him by explaining Brother Wolf. They leave and he takes her to the secret passage.

Chapter 16- They find a nice and cool computer room. She tells him why she forgave him for everything. They begin talking about being baptized and Maria says she was baptized when she was a baby. She says because he's an animal, he can't be baptized. She begins to think about Furball and starts crying. They run back to the secret passage when they hear voices. It turns out to be Felicia and Tom. Tom begins working the cameras in the house to see all the rooms. They know Maria had been through there because her hat was on the piano. They spy on Celia and Tam Lin. Before Celia says something that could give anything away, Tam Lin warns her before looking straight at the camera. He know they are there. Felicia admits to killing Furball because she wanted to kill Matt but couldn't. Matt tries to comfort Maria. Tam Lin finds them and takes Maria out and tells Matt to come out in a few minutes when the coast is clear. Maria says she'll miss him and that's all she can say before she is whisked away by Tam Lin.

I read 19 pages.

Interesting Quotation: ""This does not belong here!" the priest thundered. "This unbaptized limb of Satan has no right to make a mockery of this rite. Would you bring a dog to church?"" Everyone other than Maria, Celia, Tam Lin, and El Patron thinks of Matt as just an animal. They don't want to be near him or around him. They think he shouldn't even be at a funeral for someone in his family. He is considered a disgrace.

Chapter 13-14

Chapter 13- Matt and Celia talk of the clone. Celia explains that Tom is Mr. MacGregor and Felicia's son. He doesn't understand because he knows Felicia is married to Mr. Alacran. Celia says that just because they are married doesn't mean anything. Maria wouldn't talk to Matt, so he decided to take Furball and hide him until she talked to him. He took Furball and headed to the Lotus Pond. There, he sees Tom. Tom had nailed a frogs feet to the ground until Matt feed it. Tom claims he is doing a science project, which Matt doesn't believe. Tom explains how he wants to be on the top of the food chain. Matt tries to talk to Maria, but she has to leave. He goes back out to the shed and Furball is barking. He feeds him meat to make him be quiet. When Celia falls asleep, he slowly approches the shed and Furball. Daft Donald and Tam Lin carry Matt to Senator Mendoza. He tells Matt he won't be around Maria anymore. Matt explains that he didn't kill Furball, but no one believes him. Celia takes him upstairs as everyone leaves.

Chapter 14- Matt stayed in his room as Maria left. He thinks over everything that happened. Celia comes in and he asks why didn't Tom stay with Mr. MacGregor if it was his son. Celia explains that when El Patron decides that something is his, he doesn't give it up. She tells him of how she came from the same village as El Patron and when she tried to cross the border, the Farm Patrol caught her. When El Patron came in and realized she was from the same village, he had her released. She has been with him ever since. Matt asks about all the other people. She says they were turned into eejits.

I read 21 pages.

Interesting Quotation: "I was only doing a science project," said Tom. "Oh, sure. Even Maria wouldn't believe that."" Maria believes anything that comes out of Tom, or anyone but Matt's mouth. No matter how many times Tom hurts Maria or scares her, she forgives him. She will always run back to him and they stay friends.

Chapters 11-12

Chapter 11- Matt is walking around and sees Tom's place card next to his and Maria's at the baby table, so he switches them. Maria gets upset and changes them back. Matt says it is his party also and she must sit with him. She is upset the whole time. El Patron begins to open his gifts and he has a mountain of gifts around him. Matt opens his from Celia and Tam Lin, but Maria won't give hers to him. He demands she bring it and a gift. She reluctantly does so. El Patron leaves and Matt goes to bed.

Chapter 12- The next morning, Felicia comes to visit Matt. She tells him to go meet Maria at the hospital. He goes and Maria thinks that he invited her there. Tom comes out. Matt realizes that Tom told Maria to come and Felicia told Matt to come saying the other invited them there. They hear something screaming in the back. Maria thinks it's a cat and must go save it. When they go back, they see it is a person; a boy. It was screaming and kicking and trying to get loose. Tom explains it's a clone. It is Mr. MacGregor's clone. Maria can't look at the clone or even think about it. Matt tries to explain that he isn't like this clone, but she won't listen to him. Both of them leave and soon after, he follows.

I read 9 pages.

Interesting Quotation: "Matt was beside himself with frustration. "You wanted to come down here to rescue a cat. Well, look at this! It needs rescuing!" "No, no, no," whimpered Maria. She was in a state of utter panic. "Take me away!" she wailed." Maria, like all the others, would save anything but a clone. She doesn't mind Matt most of the time, but she couldn't handle this clone. No one wants to help a clone. Everyone says that clones eventually go crazy. Why spend time with them if they will eventually go crazy?

Chapters 8-10

Chapter 8- Matt and Tam Lin head out for a picnic. Matt is disappointed that the horse isn't like El Latigo Negro's. The horse isn't a super fast, ride-like-the-wind, kind of horse. They pass people harvesting opium. Matt asks what they are doing and Tam Lin has to explain that he is dead from either lack of water or heat. tam Lin tells Matt that the horse can't follow them because he is programmed to stay on the farm. He would just stood in front of the water trough until he died, had Tam Lin not told him to drink. Tam Lin explains to Matt that the man in the field and Teacher are eejits. Matt tells him to stop because the stories are horrible. Tam Lin shows Matt a coyote den and a beehive. They head back to the Estate when the sun begins to set. When they pass were the man was laying, they see that he is no longer there. Matt asks  Tam Lin if he could teach him, but Tam Lin says Matt will learn from the TV and Tam Lin will be there to make sure he studies.

Chapter 9- Matt gets afraid that the dead man will be laying outside his door, looking up at him. Matt likes to sneak into the music room to hear Felicia Alacran play the piano. He hides in a closet one day so Felicia doesn't see him. He finds a switch that shows him a secret passage. He ends up going inside it and hearing a conversation between the doctor, Mr. Alacran and his dad. He hurries out of that closet and back to the music room. Tam Lin finds him with the piano and gets him a music teacher. The only one he could find is a deaf man named Mr. Ortega. No one wants to teach a clone.

Chapter 10- Its is time for El Patron's 143rd birthday. Maria and Matt head to Maria's room to get Furball and Tom is standing there. Furball is nowhere to be found and Tom said he never saw him. They begin to search for Furball when Matt hears something from the bathroom. He goes in there and Furball is in the toilet with the lid down. Matt takes him out and dries him off. Maria runs in and grabs him. Tom said he must have been drinking out of the toilet and he fell in and closed the top. Matt doesn't believe him. El Patron's party starts and Matt sees Mr. MacGregor, another drug lord. El Patron tells the same story from his childhood as he did every year.

I read 26 pages.

Interesting Quotation: "Eejits can only do simple things. They pick fruit or sweep floors or, as you've seen, harvest opium." ~Tam Lin, Page 82, Lines 1 and 2~ When they put the brain implant in someone, it takes away certain abilities. Eejits can only do things that other people tell them to do. If they are told to pick opium, they have to do so until they are told to stop. That's why Teacher could only repeat the same lesson. That's why the man died in the field. He didn't hear the warden tell them to stop because he got behind and lack of water and heat killed him.

Chapters 5-7

Chapter 5- The doctor comes to check on Matt because he has to. Rosa tells Matt she can kill him if she wants. Rosa brings him food and changes his newspapers everyday without talking to him. One day, she has gardeners remove his bed and bring in sawdust. The doctor doesn't like it at first, but says "the beast" is in good condition. Tom comes to make fun of him. Matt finds a rotten, wormy orange under the sawdust and nails Tom in the face. Tom goes and gets a pea shooter anf starts nailing Matt in the chest with peas. Matt isn't wearing a shirt because Rosa took everything but his pants. Maria goes and gets Celia and brings her to Matt. She promises to get him out.

Chapter 6: Rosa gets Matt up to wash him and gets him nicely dressed. She threatened him that if he said anything about what she had done, she could kill him. El Patron was there to see Matt. Celia tell El Patron of what Rosa was doing to Matt. When El Patron calls for the doctor, her runs in immediatly. The doctor tells El Patron all about what Rosa was doing, even though he was in on it. She scratched the doctor's face and she is escorted away. Matt and El Patron chat until El Patron falls asleep. Maria goes and gets Matt the next day because El Patron is leaving. El Patron tells everyone to be nice to Matt and that he is leaving a bodygaurd to reinforce it. Matt chooses Tam Lin. Everyone ignores Matt an they return inside.

I read 28 pages.

Interesting Quotation:""Bleating won't save you, you good-for-nothing animal."" ~Rosa, Page 39, Line 22~ Rosa can do whatever she wants to Matt because no one can hear him scream. No one is in the rooms even near to him. Rosa could kill him and no one would hear him.

Chapter 7: Tom comes to Celia's apartment and rips up Matt's teddy bear. Matt and Tom start fighting and Tam Lin breaks them up. Matt kicks Maria and Tom out and Tam Lin talks to him. Maria later explains that she has to go school and invites Matt. He acts rude towards her. A teacher comes to Matt and has him color and write the same letters everyday. He finally blows up and yells at her. Tam Lin comforts her and then goes to talk to Matt. When he goes to Matt, he is excited that Matt can talk. Matt tells Tam Lin that Teacher is an eejit, calling her stupid. Tam Lin says that Matt doesn't know what that means and tells him he will take him on a picnic.

I read 9 pages.

Interesting Quotation: ""She was an eejit," announced Matt, using Maria's worst insult."" ~Matt, Page 74, Line 12~ Matt is referring to her as an idiot. He knows she isn't exactly smart when she teaches the same thing over and over again.

Reading Blog

The House of the Scorpion is a science fiction book about a boy named Matteo Alacran who is clone. He is the clone of El Patron. He is started as an embryo and a cow gave birth to him. Matt almost got "dumbed down" when he was born by having a shot in his head. This shot would put a microchip in his brain and make him dumber. At first, I thought this book wouldn't be very good, but when I read the summary on the back, I realized I might like this book. Turns out, I don't like it... I love it. I always want to read more to know what happens next.

First Sitting
Chapter 1- Eduardo is being forced to take thirty-six embryos and put them in cows and make at least one survive. Matteo Alacran is a clone. He is the only one that survives the process. Eduardo goes to lower his intelligence with a shot when Lisa, a co-worker, stops him because Matteo is an Alacran.

Chapter 2- Matt lives with Celia, the Alacran Estates cook. He tries to stop her from leaving to go to work because he doesn't want to be lonely. He finally lets Celia leave when she promises to bring a present back for him. Matt gets food and moves way away from the microwave. Celia padlocks it so Matt can't get in it. He goes to Celia's room to play with the stuffed animals. He realizes they don't understand him. He goes to watch TV and makes the same observation. Matt hears voices outside. He runs to the door and they talk to him. He doesn't reply. When Celia returns, he colors in the coloring book she brought him. He accidentally calls her mama and she gets upset. He asks her about the children and she tells him. He figures out the two must have been Steven and Emilia. He starts practicing what he will say to them the next day, while he was laying in bed.

Chapter 3: Matt waits all day for Steven and Emilia to come back. At last, they come back and they bring Emilia's little sister, Maria, with them. Steven and Emilia begin to leave Maria, so Matt breaks the window with a pan. Steven and Emilia come back. Matt jumps out of the window and he is barefooted. He gets glass all in his feet and he blacks out. He awakens to Steven and Emilia carrying him. They take him inside where Rosa, a worker, helps him. She lays him down and pulls the glass out. He has 'Property of Alacran House' on the bottom of his foot. Steven's father, Me. Alacran, comes in and tells them to get Matt out of his house. Rosa takes him out and lays him down before running back inside.

I read 23 pages.

Interesting Quotation- ""You can't come mi vida. You must stay hidden in the nest like a good little mouse. There're hawks out there that eat little mice."" ~Celia, Page 5, Line 11-12~ This quote interests me because you can tell Celia doesn't want people to know she has Matt. That's one reason she doesn't live with the others. she won't let Matt outside at all. She locks all the windows and doors and doesn't allow Matt to even touch the microwave. He isn't supposed to be as smart as he is. Celia doesn't want him outside or touching certain things.


Second Sitting
Chapter 4- Matt is put in a room where no one goes and everyone is to stay away from him. Rosa brings him food, but is awful to Matt. Maria is the only one who still likes him. She goes down to his room and they talk. Maria brought Matt food and they tell stories while eating. Matt tells Maria scary stories and she gets frightened. She starts crying. Maria lays down with him and then jumps back up to get newspaper for covers. Rosa comes in to find Maria and insults Matt and drags Maria off.

I read 10 pages.

Interesting Quotation- ""Too late, the children have seen it."" ~Page 28, Line 17~ Everyone thinks Matt is a dirty little clone, They don't want to be near him or touch him. They think just because he was born different, that he is nasty. Most clones are injected with a microchip that makes them horrible and they assume that Matt is like this too.