A scheming carnival owner threatens to tear a vulnerable family apart

Fourteen-year-old Bo is a boat person whose family fled Vietnam for Canada. He spends his after-school hours battling bullies and caring for his sister, Orange, who was born with severe deformities. One day he meets Gerry, an agent in the bear-wrestling business who charms him into the profession and gives him his own cub to train. As Bo and Orange’s bond with the little bear grows, so does his mother’s romance with Gerry’s boss — whose schemes to put Orange in his freak show threaten to tear the family apart. A touching story about love, loss and the bonds of all sorts of friendships. – Lora Grady

All the Broken Things, Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer, $24, Indigo and Amazon.