I came to this a fan of Powers from THE OVERSTORY, so I knew Powers didn't flinch from serving up searing truths that leave you gasping.  He's done it again here -- managed to draw me out of my numbness about the ghastly, violent omnipresent slaughter of every precious form of Life that is inexorably going on around us.  And -- although it was painful -- it wasn't as grim to read as my last sentence sounds.  Because he's telling it though the innocent, awed eyes of a sensitive, creative, passionate 9-year old and the equally brilliant father who is desperate to protect his son as he faces the full horror of ecological disaster, while still honoring his demand to be told the truth.   It's a book I want to let sink in a bit and then talk about.