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Free Lunch by Rex Ogle is a memoir reflecting on his life as a 6th grade student entering middle school. Along with the stress of trying to fit in, Rex struggles with growing up in poverty and encountering ongoing domestic violence in his home life. As Rex navigates through these hardships, he learns the importance of true friendship, perseverance, and forgiveness.
Free Lunch by Rex Ogle is a memoir reflecting on his life as a 6th grade student entering middle school. Along with the stress of trying to fit in, Rex struggles with growing up in poverty and encountering ongoing domestic violence in his home life. As Rex navigates through these hardships, he learns the importance of true friendship, perseverance, and forgiveness.
Written by Rex Ogle
Published in 2019 by Norton Young Readers
Genre: memoir
Reading level: grades 5-6+
Suggested delivery: independent
2020 YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Award
Big Ideas (key words):
Poverty
Perseverance
Personal growth
Hardship
Friendship
Common Core State Standard:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.6 Determine an author's point of view or purpose in a text and explain how it is conveyed in the text.
Teaching Strategies:
Building schema before reading:
Cover essential vocabulary and address topics prior to beginning the story:
Poverty: the state of being extremely poor
Abuse: treating a person with cruelty or violence, regularly and repeatedly
Discrimination: the unjust treatment of a person based on the grounds of their appearance, age, disability, ethnicity, etc.
Overview of the free & reduced lunch programs in schools
Supporting the Text:
This source is an interview with the author of Free Lunch, Rex Ogle, conducted by Lisa Bullard where Rex Ogle discusses his past and how he grew from the experiences in his childhood.
During reading:
Cover other vocabulary terms as they arise in the story:
Abuela: Spanish word for grandmother
Prejudice: an affective feeling or action towards a person based on their perceived classification
Shame: feeling of humiliation or distress
Freon: an aerosol chemical found in air conditioners
Example reflection/discussion questions to drive comprehension:
How is Rex introduced into the story? What do we learn about him early on?
How does Rex describe the challenges he faces, both in his home life and at school?
How would the story be told differently if it wasn't from Rex's point of view?
How does Rex's perspective of money change throughout the school year?
How does his perception of the free lunch program change throughout the school year?
How does Rex's experiences with abuse affect those around him, especially those who are not a part of his family?
How does he battle these struggles and overcome these experiences?
After reading:
Students will be given the task of free writing their thoughts and or emotional reactions to the events or people in the book
For an added/challenging assignment: students will be given the task to rewrite the major sections of the story from another characters' perspective to see how the story would be told differently from Rex's perspective
Extension of the Text:
The author of Free Lunch, Rex Ogle, discusses his book and brings awareness to important topics of poverty and domestic violence happening to people of all ages in the world around us. Rex Ogle emphasizes the importance of sharing this book with young audiences to shed light on these dark topics and provide empathy to their peers who may be dealing with these hardships.
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