Illuminating Hope and Grace in the Face of Hardship with Rex Ogle (5th - 8th grade)
You’re invited to join us online - either in the library's large meeting room or register to watch on your own device from the comfort of home - with award-winning author Rex Ogle as he talks to viewers about his struggles to navigate sixth grade as written about in his book Free Lunch. The library is hosting a live watch party in the large meeting room, or you can register to watch this event from home on your own device!
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 life at home is punctuated by outbursts of violence. 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 last period every day until the buses have left, so no one will see where he lives.
Unsparing and realistic, Free Lunch is a story of hardship threaded with hope and moments of grace. Rex’s voice is compelling and authentic, and Free Lunch is a true, timely, and essential work that illuminates the lived experience of poverty in America. Register now to join the conversation!
Register and submit any questions you have for the author at:
https://libraryc.org/carroll-library/upcoming.
You can register for a monthly Library Speakers Consortium newsletter about all the upcoming author talks being offered at the Carroll Public Library at:
https://libraryc.org/carroll-library/subscribe.
*Sponsored by Commercial Savings Bank
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