Rex Ogle

A distinctive new voice: Rex Ogle's story of starting middle school on the free lunch program is timely, heartbreaking, and true.

Free Lunch

Melissa Palmer

Still powerful after a re-read.

Heartbreaking at times, this memoir tell's of Ogle's childhood, being poor, having to participate in the free lunch program and having an abusive household. But this book was not totally without hope. I recommend it.

Raven K

[9.75 stars ⭐️.] Whew. Tbh, I don't exactly know what I was expecting while reading this book. I had been wanting to read this for a while, ever since the first time I saw it, I guess. It kind of squeezed my heart at certain moments. There were also time where I just felt so bad for not only the author, but his family and their situation as well. I don't think that I could pinpoint a favorite part, I liked most of it honestly. The writing was different..idk, I think it was..really imaginative. I love(d) his writing style, it's so unique. I noticed while reading that I pictured the scenes/chapters while reading it, which made the story 10x better. There were sad parts which is expected in a memoir like this. Overall, I highly enjoyed this book and am definitely looking forward to reading more from the author.

daisy

“ no child should feel alone. or ashamed. or worthless. they need to know that their circumstances are not their fault. “

some things kinda hit home ngl it got me crying so hard

Jeni Enjaian

I really wanted to like this book but Ogle did nothing to make it a redeeming book. I understand that he tells his own story here in this book but the narrative arc offers absolutely no redemption. I hate how he gets treated. I hate that no one sees this and does anything about it. I absolutely despite the racist and abysmally pedagogically equipped teacher. This felt like poverty porn, like we look in to see how awful all of this was for Ogle but we cannot do anything about it because it already happened and we see nothing redemptive.

Katy B

Possibly 4.5 stars. 

I really enjoyed this book and it took me no time to read it (once I remembered where I set it down and could get back to it). A short read, but boy does it not hold back at all. The author does a fantastic job of making you feel strong emotions on practically every page of this book. At time I was so furious with certain people and then other times my heart would break for those same people. He really has a way of making the people in his life multi-dimensional. 

While written for kids, a lot of adults could benefit from reading the author's autobiography of growing up below the poverty line and how little has changed for families from the time he was a kid to now.

Free Lunch

Reviews