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yuze's review
emotional
inspiring
sad
fast-paced
4.75
rex ogle wrote free lunch because he believes it's an important story to share. while i don't know if it's important or not, i do know that this memoir healed something in me. we may not be poor anymore but the experience of growing up poor will forever be a part of us and im thankful to rex ogle for this book.
brittneyfike's review
5.0
This was a tough book to read at times. But it was a story that needed to be heard and I’m thankful that Rex shared it.
amusinglyuseless's review
challenging
emotional
sad
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Bullying, Child abuse, Classism, Racial slurs, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Vomit, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Racism, and Xenophobia
Minor: Religious bigotry
cinnamon_girl9's review
4.0
Everything in this life is temporary. So appreciate what you have while you have it.
bickie's review
3.0
Well-written memoir account of the author's experience starting 6th grade, on the Free Lunch Program for the first time. Novel-like structure (note says author changed names/details and reconstructed conversations as best he could) is appealing, and Rex the student has to navigate changing friendships and a new school as well as poverty and an emotionally and physically abusive home life. As a white woman who has never experienced poverty or domestic violence, I do not feel I can comment on the "plot" or "events." They appear to be unvarnished and raw while also avoiding graphic details of the domestic violence and profanity (for example, he mentions someone using the "f" word). With the knowledge that I don't understand, I do wonder about the ending and the seemingly dangerous implication that . If his family is anything like most families that include domestic abuse, the cycle will likely come back around after the gifts and making up. It would have felt better to have an author's note about this and perhaps an assurance that children experiencing this kind of abuse do not deserve it even a little bit, no matter how much they let their understandable, complex feelings show. Ethan's implying an equivalency of their situations is uninformed (he really does not know the extent to Rex's family challenges) and furthers the feeling that children need to handle this stuff on their own.
Includes domestic violence (not sexual), drug/alcohol use (by kids in neighborhood), mean kids, poverty (pawn shop, government housing/food stamps, food insecurity)
Spoiler
the abuse all stopped when his mom and her boyfriend got jobs and Rex started being nicerIncludes domestic violence (not sexual), drug/alcohol use (by kids in neighborhood), mean kids, poverty (pawn shop, government housing/food stamps, food insecurity)
kaeteas's review
4.0
Honestly, I think that the page giving resources should have been placed in the front of the book. I do wonder about the abuse that Rex faced and if it continued. The way he discusses it almost makes it seem like it disappeared once both his mother and stepfather got a job. I hope that it did, but the way it is laid out almost seems like the author is implying it happened only because of the financial stress when there were multiple incidents throughout that contradict that. It also breaks my heart that he didn't want to discuss what was happening to him with anyone, let alone his friend.
Completely unrelated to most of what I wrote above, I do agree with that one teacher of his. No 6th grader should be reading Stephen King.
Completely unrelated to most of what I wrote above, I do agree with that one teacher of his. No 6th grader should be reading Stephen King.
eggbytes's review
challenging
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Violence, Gore, and Medical content