Possible ideas for stories I might elaborate on later.

Zephyr and Company
Takes place in a world slightly more whimsical than ours. All children born with disfigurements are assessed each year to see if they are applicable to become freakshow performers. One young boy - about 11 - has a horn-like mass protruding from his head, and his parents agree to send him off to the circus to help the lower class family make a living. Under the name Zephyr the Unicorn Boy, young Adam gets to know the other performers, learning of the strange hidden society that lies behind the curtains.
Quite a bit of money can be earned from working in high-end circuses - and the weirder the freak, the better. Zephyr eventually uncovers a plot where mothers are deliberately taking thalidomide to give birth to deformed babies.