Bewilderment by Richard Powers

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning and #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Overstory, an intimate and moving novel that asks an essential question: what are we doing to our children?

Theo Byrne is a promising young astrobiologist who searches for life on other planets. He is also the widowed father of a most unusual nine-year-old boy. His son, Robin, is funny, loving, and filled with plans. He thinks and feels deeply, and can spend hours painting elaborate pictures of the endangered animals he loves. He's also on the verge of being expelled from third grade for smashing his friend's face with a thermos.

What can a father do when the only solution offered to his rare and troubled son is to put him on psychoactive drugs? What can he say when his son comes to him wanting an explanation for a world that is clearly in love with its own destruction? All he can do is take the boy with him to imaginary planets, while and help him in his desperate campaign to save this one.