Free Lunch

by Rex Ogle Narrated by Ramón de Ocampo

Overview

Instead of giving him lunch money, Rex's mom has signed him up for free meals.

As a poor kid in a wealthy school district, better-off kids crowd impatiently behind him as he tries to explain to the cashier that he's on the free meal program. The lunch lady is hard of hearing, so Rex has to shout.

Free Lunch is the story of Rex's efforts to navigate his first semester of sixth grade-who to sit with, not being able to join the football team, Halloween in a handmade costume, classmates and a teacher who take one look at him and decide he's trouble-all while wearing secondhand clothes and being hungry. His mom
and her boyfriend are out of work, and life at home is punctuated by outbursts of violence. Halfway through the semester, his family is evicted and ends up in government-subsidized housing in view of the school. Rex lingers at the end of last period every day until the buses have left, so no one will see where he lives.

Unsparing and realistic, Free Lunch is a story of hardship threaded with hope and moments of grace. Rex's voice is compelling and authentic, and Free Lunch is a true, timely, and essential work that illuminates the lived experience of poverty in America.

“Outstanding, gracious writing and a clear eye for the penetrating truth. A mighty portrait of poverty amid cruelty and optimism.”-Kirkus Reviews, starred review

Editorial Reviews

School Library Journal (starred review)

"Heart-wrenching, timely, and beautifully written, this is a powerful and urgent work."

Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Outstanding, gracious writing and a clear eye for the penetrating truth. A mighty portrait of poverty amid cruelty and optimism."

Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"With candor and vivid detail, Ogle’s debut captures the experience of chronic poverty in the United States...Ogle’s emotional honesty pays off in the form of complex characterization and a bold, compassionate thesis."

Booklist

"Ogle’s engrossing narrative is rich in lived experience."

Kirkus Reviews

★ 2019-06-16
Recounting his childhood experiences in sixth grade, Ogle's memoir chronicles the punishing consequences of poverty and violence on himself and his family.

The start of middle school brings about unwanted changes in young Rex's life. His old friendships devolve as his school friends join the football team and slowly edge him out. His new English teacher discriminates against him due to his dark skin (Rex is biracial, with a white absentee dad and a Mexican mom) and secondhand clothes, both too large and too small. Seemingly worse, his mom enrolls him in the school's free-lunch program, much to his embarrassment. "Now everyone knows I'm nothing but trailer trash." His painful home life proffers little sanctuary thanks to his mom, who swings from occasional caregiver to violent tyrant at the slightest provocation, and his white stepdad, an abusive racist whose aggression outrivals that of Rex's mom. Balancing the persistent flashes of brutality, Ogle magnificently includes sprouts of hope, whether it's the beginnings of a friendship with a "weird" schoolmate, joyful moments with his younger brother, or lessons of perseverance from Abuela. These slivers of relative levity counteract the toxic relationship between young Rex, a boy prone to heated outbursts and suppressed feelings, and his mother, a fully three-dimensional character who's viciously thrashing against the burden of poverty. It's a fine balance carried by the author's outstanding, gracious writing and a clear eye for the penetrating truth.

A mighty portrait of poverty amid cruelty and optimism. (author's note, author Q&A, discussion guide, writing guide, resources) (Memoir. 9-12)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940174027701
Publisher:	Recorded Books, LLC
Publication date:	09/10/2019
Edition description:	Unabridged
Age Range:	8 - 11 Years

Videos