Free Lunch

Sixth grade is a tough time, especially for kids who feel they don’t fit. Rex is one of those kids. He lives in a crappy apartment with a mother, step-father, and baby brother. There is never enough of anything, especially food, and a whole lot of abuse going on. Rex’s mother is mean, but when she announces he’s on the free lunch program, it’s almost more than Rex can bear. It’s embarrassing. The cashier in the lunchroom makes a big show of looking up his name every day to check it off. For some reason Rex never makes the connection that she has to look through pages of kids to find his name, meaning he is far from alone. Still, the shame he feels is great at being so poor, wearing clothes that don’t fit, not having school supplies, and mostly being o the free lunch program.

Rex Ogle’s memoir is tough to read. The adult characters are one-dimensional, very bad people. Rex’s anger at his situation is palpable and exacerbates his problems. Young readers may have a tough time getting through this book as there is so little hope, but it’s worth the time.