A woman is shocked when her sister asks her to take care of a little girl she’s never seen before in Nicole Baart’s Little Broken Things. (Photo by Jay, Flickr)

Two sisters with a tenuous relationship. A mysterious little girl who doesn’t speak. Loads of unanswered questions. All of these ingredients make Nicole Baart’s new novel, Little Broken Things, a story that will tug at your heartstrings and make you examine just how you define “family.”