Bewilderment

Astrobiologist Theo Byrne searches for life throughout the cosmos, invents planets every night for a bedtime story. He raises Robin, 9, after a car crash took their Aly. The family is strict vegetarians, Theo tells us each dish.

Robin is bright, but full of anger that explodes in a flash. He suffers over animals tortured, killed to feed humans. His mum lobbied in Washington for animals, and died for them. The boy spends hours painting elaborate pictures of endangered animals. He must leave third grade for smashing his friend in the face.

Theo is pushed to put Robin on drugs, tries neurofeedback in desperation Robin trains his emotional control on recorded patterns of his mother’s brain in various moods. As he improves though, the boy remembers the mouse in Algernon's story.