Today’s author interview guest is Rex Ogle, author of the new book Free Lunch.

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“A mighty portrait of poverty amid cruelty and optimism.”―Kirkus (starred review)

Free Lunch is the story of Rex Ogle’s first semester in sixth grade. Rex and his baby brother often went hungry, wore secondhand clothes, and were short of school supplies, and Rex was on his school’s free lunch program. Grounded in the immediacy of physical hunger and the humiliation of having to announce it every day in the school lunch line, Rex’s is a compelling story of a more profound hunger―that of a child for his parents’ love and care. Compulsively readable, beautifully crafted, and authentically told with the voice and point of view of a 6th-grade kid, Free Lunch is a remarkable debut by a gifted storyteller.

About Rex Ogle:

Rex Ogle was born and raised mostly in Texas. He says, “I was one of the poorest kids at a school for the children of the wealthy. I was on the subsidized lunch program, and mocked endlessly. This is my middle school experience, but I think it’s an important story to tell.” A former children’s book editor in New York City, Rex and his partner now enjoy much nicer weather in the Los Angeles area.