MEDICINE WHEELS

This sophomore novel from award winner Graves (Ojibwe and Lakota) explores a search for identity within the world of skateboarding.

After the latest violent fight between 15-year-old Bryce Fairbanks’ mom and her boyfriend, Mom drops Bryce off on the Wolf Creek Reservation. When Mom later ends up in jail for possession of prescription drugs that didn’t belong to her, he stays with his grandparents in his late father’s childhood room for the summer. It might not be the greatest reason to return, but there are upsides: stability and being surrounded by family and childhood friends. Bryce is a realistically drawn teenager with complicated feelings, living in an anxiety-inducing world—Grandpa has cancer, and an oil company wants to build a pipeline next to the reservation. Bryce’s best friend, Robbie, a talented skateboarder, wants to show him the ropes, and since Dad was legendarily good, maybe this will help Bryce feel closer to him. He crosses paths with Mikayla Mountain, a girl he met in an Ojibwe language immersion camp, and they start dating, but Mikayla’s driven, ambitious dad regards Bryce as “a loose cannon” who might hold her back. Meanwhile, Bryce’s friend Caroline and her partner, Aaliyah, draw him into their activism against the North Woods Passage Pipeline. Bryce shows real emotional growth as he falls in love with skateboarding, improves his mental health, and engages with his community.

A textured, heartwarming story of growth and connection.