The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet

T.S. Spivet, a 10-year-old prodigy, lives on a ranch in Montana with his family, including his mother who studies beetles, his father who's a cowboy, and his 14-year-old sister who wants to be Miss America. T.S. loves cartography and invents scientific gadgets. He wins the prestigious Baird prize for his perpetual motion machine and is invited to a reception in Washington D.C. Without telling his family, he takes a freight train across the country to attend. The story also explores T.S.'s relationship with his deceased twin brother, Layton, whose accidental death remains a family secret.