Henry Cassavant is the protagonist of Tunes for Bears to Dance To. He is an 11-year-old American boy of French Canadian heritage whose family is still traumatized by the death of his older brother, Eddie, nearly a year before. The family has moved to a new town to escape the memories of Eddie, but Henry misses his old friends and feels lonely and isolated. His father is depressed, can’t work, and rarely speaks; his mother waitresses to support the family. Henry also works, helping to stock shelves at a local grocery store owned by the racist, curt Mr. Hairston.

Henry is a deeply sensitive and empathetic child, fearful of rats and the atomic bomb, easily moved to tears, and quickly earning the trust of an elderly Holocaust survivor in his neighborhood, Mr. Levine. Educated in a parochial school, Henry is also deeply religious and prays frequently for the people in his life. However, Henry makes the mistake of telling Mr. Hairston about the toy village that Mr. Levine is carving at a craft center. When Mr. Hairston offers Henry various rewards for destroying the village, Henry’s fall from innocence begins.