Free Lunch

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ogle, Rex. 2019. FREE LUNCH. New York: Norton Young Readers, an imprint of W.W. Norton & Company. ISBN: 9781713700111

Ogle, Rex. 2019. FREE LUNCH. Ramon De Ocampo, Narr. [Unabridged Audiobook]. Audible.  https://www.audible.com/pd/Free-Lunch-Audiobook/1980053707?action_code=ASSGB149080119000H&share_location=pdp&shareTest=TestShare (Original work published 2019.)

PLOT SUMMARY

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 outbursts of violence punctuate life at home. 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 the last period every day until the buses have left, so no one will see where he lives.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

This memoir grabbed my heart from the beginning. In chapter one I was attached to him and how he felt being poor, it tugged at my educator and mom's hearts for sure.

Rex writes amazingly to grab the reader into experiencing what he went through on a daily basis after the three elementary campuses in his district combined with the middle school setting. He is very easily relatable as most of us go through some of the same struggles that he did. While this memoir goes through his first semester as a sixth grader, we can infer that things start getting better for him after his Christmas break with both of the adults in his household having employment. 

The audio on Audible is narrated by Ramon De Ocampo. There is no music as an introduction in the book, instead, it immediately begins by stating who the book is written for. Rex states it is written for any kid whether they paid for their own lunch or not. De Ocampo does a great job changing up his voice and vocals for each character in the book. When he makes the switch to the mom, he uses a more rough tone that seems angry. When he switches to Abuelita, he frequently talks with a Hispanic accent or even has language use in Spanish. 

De Ocampo has a very comfortable-sounding voice making it very easy to listen to. I supremely enjoyed listening to him for the entire five hours and fifty-two minutes. 

REVIEW EXCERPTS / AWARDS

Booklist (August 2019)

Ogle's engrossing narrative is rich in lived experience, offering a window into the ways that poverty can lead to domestic violence and feelings of unworthiness. The abuse Rex and his mother suffer will disturb many; too many others will recognize Rex's circumstances as their own. Appended with an author's note, Q&A, and social services resources, this is an important and ultimately hopeful memoir.

Kirkus Reviews starred (July 1, 2019)

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. Seemingly worse, his mom enrolls him in the school’s free-lunch program, much to his embarrassment. 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.

Publishers Weekly (July 22, 2019)
With candor and vivid detail, Ogle’s debut, a memoir, captures the experience of chronic poverty in the United States. In addition to the usual middle school problems, Rex cringes every time he has to remind the cafeteria lady he’s on the free lunch program. Ogle doesn’t shy away from the circumstances (he and his toddler stepbrother are sometimes left alone for days at a time), but there is no shortage of humor, human kindness, and kid hijinks. Though the story is an intense middle-grade read, Ogle’s emotional honesty pays off in the form of complex characterization and a bold, compassionate thesis: "Maybe being poor broke her.... and she can’t get well as long as this is her life." The book ends on a hopeful if precarious note that underscores the importance of dismantling the shame surrounding poverty. In a country where 43% of children live in low-income families, Ogle’s memoir is all too relatable. 

School Library Journal Xpress (October 4, 2019)

Heart-wrenching, timely, and beautifully written, this is a powerful and urgent work of autofiction. Telling his own story of growing up in Texas, Ogle looks back at starting middle school while navigating the crushing poverty and intermittent violence of his home life. It is especially humiliating to sixth-grade Rex that he is required to announce his free lunch status every day in the school cafeteria, wear secondhand clothes, and give excuses for not playing football when the truth is that there's no money for the uniform. VERDICT Ogle's story will inspire empathy for the experience of children living in poverty. Recommend this book to mature readers who are ready to grapple with the realities of the impacts of socioeconomic status.

Awards: 

• YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults-Winner, 2020

CONNECTIONS

Other books by Sy Montgomery:

• Ogle, R., PUNCHING BAG. ISBN 9781324016326

• Ogle, R. THE SUPERNATURAL SOCIETY. ISBN 9781668835951

In the classroom:

• ELAR - Great use for showing students what a memoir is and how to write one.

• Social Emotional Class - Good use for a lesson over showing empathy towards others.