Medicine Wheels
-
- Pre-Order
-
- Expected Jun 2, 2026
-
- $10.99
Publisher Description
The American Indian Youth Literature and Morris Award-winning author of Rez Ball returns with the unforgettable story of a gifted young Ojibwe athlete learning to ride in his father’s footsteps while practicing for a skateboarding championship.
When Bryce’s mom walks out on her abusive boyfriend and back into jail for breaking her probation, he’s left facing the summer of his junior year with no parents, no phone, and only the clothes on his back.
With nowhere to call home, Bryce crashes at his grandparents’ house on Wolf Creek reservation. Wolf Creek is full of memories and old friends—including Robbie and Mikayla, who hang out at the local skate park.
Skateboarding reminds Bryce of his late dad: carefree, riding like he could fly. If Bryce could learn to ride like that, he’d take his crew to the top of the skateboarding championship at the end of the summer, and finally prove he’s not a loser, especially to the online-famous, captivating Mikayla. Summer is looking up, even as he’s falling on his face.
But when a fresh loss takes Bryce down, he’ll need to learn to lean on his Ojibwe community to get back on the board. Only then can he discover his father’s real legacy—and the true meaning of unconditional love.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
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.
