Precious Cargo gathers memories from the year Craig Davidson spent driving a school bus for children with special needs. In the process, he learns to look at failure differently and comes to understand the meaning of compassion. The memoir is a contender on Canada Reads 2018. It will be defended by tornado hunter Greg Johnson during the debates.

The debates, which will be hosted by Ali Hassan, take place March 26-29, 2018.

If you've read Precious Cargo, here are four books, films and albums you should also check out.

Ian Brown's son has a genetic mutation so rare that only 300 people in the world have it. In the memoir The Boy in the Moon, Brown shares what it's like to raise a child with special needs. At 12 years old, Walker weighs 54 pounds and has to wear special cuffs so he can't hit himself. The Boy in the Moon won the RBC Taylor Prize for literary nonfiction (then called the Charles Taylor Prize) in 2010.

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Image | The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

Caption: Graeme Simsion is the author of the Globe and Mail bestseller The Rosie Project. (HarperCollins)

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In The Rosie Project, Don Tillman is a professor of genetics who devises a questionnaire to find a wife after several failed attempts at traditional dating. When he meets Rosie, his attention shifts to helping her find her biological father using his expertise.

Based on Russell Banks' novel of the same title, The Sweet Hereafter examines the effect children can have on a community. A bus accident involving young students sees grieving parents enter a class action lawsuit against those involved. Director Atom Egoyan watches the town unravel as they try to piece together what happened. The 1997 film was nominated for two Oscars: best director and best adapted screenplay.

Justin Hines is a folk singer with Larsen's syndrome, a condition affecting the joints. His music career began at the age of 14 after winning a competition to sing the national anthem at a Toronto Raptors basketball game. The Newmarket, Ont.-born singer covers universal themes such as memory in his music. He was appointed to the Order of Ontario in 2014.