The book I just finished yesterday was called Nothing to Lose by Alex Flinn (Yes, the Alex Flinn that wrote Beastly). Usually I don't go for stories that have abusive father figures, but it was also about a traveling carnival. "Traveling" and "carnival" are two words that just make anything awesome, so I knew I had to check this out. I gotta say, despite my reservations in reading this, I really enjoyed it. Nothing to Lose is about Micheal Daye, who has spent the last year working as a carnie with a traveling carnival. He joined the carnival's ranks in order to escape from home, where he had a stepfather who beat his weak mother. When the carnival returns to Micheal's home in Miami, Micheal finds out that his mom is on trial for murdering his stepfather. The book is about the question facing Micheal now: does he keep running with the carnival, or does he stay to stand up for his mother? Again, not the kind of thing I usually go for, but once I started reading, this book quickly became more than worth my time.
Recommended.