Medicine Wheels

An Indigenous teenager yearning for stability finds that and more as he connects with his family history in this memorable and heartfelt novel from Ojibwe author Graves (Rez Ball). According to 15-year-old Bryce, his mother has been a “hot mess” since his father’s death some years ago (“always in and out of trouble, drinking, never able to keep a job”). When she’s arrested for drug possession, Bryce moves in with his grandparents on Wolf Creek reservation, where he was raised. There, he revels in the easy camaraderie he shares with two former childhood friends, who spend the summer teaching him how to skateboard. Simultaneously, Bryce helps Wolf Creek residents organize against a pipeline that threatens ancestral land, navigates first love, prepares for a high-stakes skateboarding contest, and contends with his grandfather’s physical decline from cancer, all while bracing for his mother’s eventual release. Natural-feeling dialogue and measured emotional pacing keep the story grounded in Bryce’s resilient first-person POV. Skateboarding sequences carry electric energy, and the adroitly wrought activism plotline underscores challenges faced by Indigenous communities. A concluding author’s note and glossary of Ojibwe language and skate terminology add depth to this sincere portrait of grief, growth, and finding balance on and off the board. Ages 13–up. Agent: Terrie Wolf at AKA Literary Management. (June)