We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver

"Kevin" is a book, whose characters include the mother, and her son, Kevin, who has recently killed nine people at his school, and his father and sister. He is in jail and his mother goes to visit him twice a month. The book is written in the form of letters from his mother, Eva, to his father, Franklin - who you find out at the end is dead. Eva has an impossible time connecting to Kevin throughout his entire life. He repeatedly acts in ways that were infuriating to me and unbelievable to her. He remains in diapers until he is six. He squirts grape juice all over a room she has recently covered with maps from all of her trips.
Kevin does not like anything, he connects with nothing. He is described as having figured out that all things in the world are simply a distraction from our mundane existence, and therefore not worth the time. He tries to take away the ability to enjoy anything from everyone he comes in contact with. He tells a waitress when he is three that she has a "poopy face" when he sees her moles. At a junior high dance there is an uncool girl dancing all by herself, and he whispers something in her ear that causes her to become painfully aware of her place in the world. The people he chooses to kill at the school shooting all have some sort of passion, something they enjoy - and hence he chooses to "save them from their misery".
The book was fascinating. How the author could produce that type of insight was amazing. The story is disturbing and challenging in many ways, one of which is how I would handle a child like Kevin myself.