YA Coming of Age. Teens with disabilities learn to cycle (ride bikes) and gain independence. Boy with memory impairment is a refuge from war torn country, nicknamed Rice. Boy named Jesus in wheelchair. Blind girl. Mute girl. Read around 2004-2008.

[Courtney]

This has been driving me crazy for over a decade now. I read it in about 2004-2008 while in highschool / middleschool. I don't believe was part of the curriculum but it could have been, as I do remember at the same time I was reading it we were also studying Last Chance Summer.

The book was about a boy who had memory impairment. If I remember correctly, his long term memory was almost entirely gone and his short term / working memory was impaired. This was due to heavy trauma. He was adopted / arrived as a refugee to either Canada or America from a war torn country, and the children cruelly nicknamed him "Rice" because his memory is like "grains of rice through a sieve".

He befriends a boy named Jesus who is in a wheelchair, who introduces him to cycling. He also befriends a blind girl and a mute girl (she was mute specifically due to an issue with her vocal chords, there was a passage describing the unique sound of her laughter) and they become a tight knit group and begin to learn to ride bikes together. I think tandem bikes were used. The four of them go on a cycling journey together despite their parents protests.

While on this journey, he finally recalls the traumatic incident that caused him to lose his memory and it causes him to have a breakdown but his friends are there to help him.

[Kris]

Courtney, I added some details to the header/topic title. (No ALL CAPS in the header, please.) You can update it by clicking the small "edit" link after the header. This only works on the full Desktop website - not the Mobile website or app. (On the Mobile website, click the "Desktop version" link at the bottom of the page.)

[Rainbowheart]

Absolutely Invincible