Free Lunch

Introduction

Free Lunch is a young adult memoir written by Rex Ogle and originally published in 2019. The memoir centers on Ogle’s experiences in sixth grade when his family entered a period of financial hardship and emotional turmoil, resulting in isolation at school and a long battle with his own thoughts. It’s a showcase of How Classism Affects Youth and Families, The Damaging Effects of Abuse and Conditional Love, and Optimism and Gratitude in a World That Seeks to Break One Down. Free Lunch won the YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Award in 2020 and was a Kirkus Reviews Best Children’s Book of 2019.

This guide is based on the 2021 Norton Young Readers paperback edition of the memoir.

Content Warning: Free Lunch contains descriptions of physical and emotional child abuse, domestic violence, and the use of a racial slur.

Plot Summary

Rex Ogle’s memoir Free Lunch details his sixth-grade year, in which he was enrolled in the Free Lunch Program. 11-year-old Rex and his mother Luciana pull up to the grocery store and Rex refuses to go inside, angry about life and the fact that he never gets to eat any food he likes. Luciana yells and threatens to hurt him, so Rex follows her inside. After not having breakfast that morning because he saved the last of the cereal for his toddler brother, Ford, Rex is starving as he looks at all the food. His mother sticks to a list, allowing Rex to take as many free samples as he wants and yelling at the clerks when they comment on it, embarrassing Rex. At the register, Luciana pays in food stamps and is short on money for many things on the shopping list. Both she and Rex feel embarrassed as they go to the car with one bag of food. Luciana cries, but when Rex tries to comfort her, she swats him away. Rex reflects on how his mother’s love seems dependent on whether or not she has money. Luciana and Rex’s father broke up when Rex was five, after several years of tumult. Luciana met her boyfriend Sam a few years later and had Rex’s brother, Ford. They moved to Birmingham, Texas, and neither Luciana nor Sam is working. As a result, they rely on free services.

Before his first day of middle school, Rex lies awake feeling anxious. He wants to ask for lunch money and finds his mother on the couch with Sam. Luciana explains that Rex is enrolled in the Free Lunch Program and won’t have to pay for lunch anymore. Rex feels humiliated and doesn’t understand why his mother can’t pay for his lunches with either her money or his father’s child support. This questioning sends his mother into a rage, and she hits him. The next day, Rex gets on the bus with a black eye (a common occurrence that he lies about). At school, Rex feels judged by teachers and students alike, and at lunch, he has to announce that he gets free lunch. He feels mortified and tries to find his friend Liam, who didn’t save a spot for Rex. Rex finds himself alone and feels like everyone sees him as lesser because he’s poor. He goes home to call his abuela (Spanish for “grandmother”), whom he finds comforting and warm. He complains about being poor in a school full of rich children, and Abuela urges him to work hard. She tells Rex of her life growing up in a family of thirteen children, two of whom died of disease and one whom she had to help treat for a tapeworm infection. When Rex and his mother go to Walmart to buy school supplies, Luciana complains about every item on the list. This eventually leads to an argument between her and Rex, and when Luciana yells at him, Rex yells back, leading her to grab and shake him. People stare, and Luciana demands that Rex apologize. At the end of his first week of school, Rex gets soaked in the rain and spends the day freezing. He lies to his friend Zach to avoid being teased about being enrolled in the Free Lunch Program, which becomes a new habit in an effort to fit in. When one of Liam’s friends, Derek, starts talking about football, Rex decides to try out. He asks his mother to sign a form and she starts yelling about the cost of partaking in football, as he could be injured and no longer able to help around the house. When Sam offers to pay, this enrages Luciana even more. She insults Sam, who then flips the table and grabs her. Rex takes his brother Ford and runs into the bedroom as Sam begins hitting Luciana. Rex builds a fort and holds Ford close. He blames himself for the fight and Luciana’s injuries. When he awakes the next day, the apartment is torn apart, and Luciana also blames him for her injuries.

At school, an argument ensues when Rex is teased about not joining football, and Rex reveals one of Zach’s embarrassing secrets. Zach calls Rex a slur, and the next day, Rex’s friends refuse to sit with him. Luciana takes the family to McDonald’s more, and when Rex complains about stomach problems, she calls him ungrateful. He finds out that she’s lying to fast food companies to get free coupons for meals, and he feels like he’s stealing. At school, Rex is approached by a religious clique and politely declines their invitation, feeling as though God doesn’t love him. One day, Rex scrapes his knee; when he comes home, he finds his mother sobbing. She begs Rex to never leave her. He ignores his bleeding knee, as his mother alternates between laughing and crying. On Halloween, Rex makes a Jason (from Friday the 13th) costume. When Liam compliments it, Rex becomes lost in the moment. Liam makes fun of a girl’s costume and Rex laughs to fit in. The girl cries and the principal appears, demanding the boys apologize. Rex does so readily, but Liam refuses. Days later, Rex becomes frustrated with the lunch lady, who can’t remember his name, and thinks about hurting her; however, he feels guilty for this thought and reasons that his feelings are the result of the domestic abuse he’s witnessed and experienced. Rex eats alone and is approached by a boy named Ethan. Ethan introduces Rex to the X-Men, and compliments Rex on his skepticism. They agree to eat lunch together again. When Rex is left alone with Ford for a few days, they decide to play with the neighborhood boys. The boys play a choking game and then attempt to use freon from air conditioners to get high. Rex decides to take Ford to the corner store instead. When they return home, ambulances fill the complex, and Rex finds out that his friends drank the freon. Luciana and Sam appear, panicked, and demand to know if Rex drank it too. When they find out Rex took Ford to the corner store, Sam beats him with a belt as Ford watches. At lunch the next day, Ethan asks Rex what he would do as a superhero. Rex replies that he would kill the world’s worst criminals, and Ethan pushes him to consider if he would be any different from those he hates if he killed them.

On Thanksgiving, Abuela brings food and clothing for Rex and Ford. This enrages Luciana, who accuses Abuela of buying her grandchildren’s love. Luciana throws and stomps on food until Sam takes her into the bedroom and hits her. Abuela apologizes to Rex and leaves with her gifts. At school, Rex’s teacher Mrs. Winstead gives his spelling test a low grade despite it being completely correct. Rex accuses Mrs. Winstead of prejudice, and the next day, she apologizes; Rex forgives her. In shop class, Rex pays another boy to remove his glass eye. The next day, the boy shocks Rex by openly saying that he, too, gets free lunches. When Rex returns home, he finds the door broken and his mother packing. She explains that they’re moving, and Rex is excited at the thought of having friends over at a new house. When Luciana tells Rex that they have to sleep in a car for the night and eat McDonald’s for dinner and breakfast, Rex becomes suspicious, and when they pull up to a public housing complex next to a junkyard, Rex feels betrayed and humiliated. He tells his mother that he hates her, that everything is her fault. Luciana knocks Rex down, and Sam pulls her away. A few days later, Rex returns to the new apartment and finds his mother packing again. She plans to sell items, including Rex’s boombox, to a pawnshop. When Rex protests, Luciana tells Sam to take Rex with him so he can feel the humiliation of selling his belongings. After visiting the pawn shop, Sam cries and apologizes to Rex, promising to get his stereo back.

When Luciana cries and falls to the floor over spilled chocolate milk, Rex wishes to find a way to help her. He assures her that she can find work and apologizes for past wrongdoings. Luciana softens and finds a job at a new Chinese restaurant. She brings the family to the restaurant’s grand opening and serves them delicious food. For Christmas, Ethan gives Rex a box full of comics and calls Rex his best friend. Rex returns home and finds most of his sold items, except his stereo; he forgives his mother for taking it. The family goes out to buy a pine tree for Christmas, and Rex feels like he’s part of a normal family for once. On Christmas morning, Rex receives one present. He feels disappointed but tries to be grateful. He opens the present to find a check from his father, and his mother hands him another, complimenting him on his ability to be grateful. Sam then surprises Rex and Ford with a new Nintendo console to make up for the lost stereo, and Rex is overjoyed. On New Year’s Eve, Rex visits Ethan’s home for the first time and comments on how perfect his life must be. Ethan remarks that his family has problems, and that having money doesn’t mean they’re happy. Rex gifts Ethan a story that he wrote about him, and Ethan is honored to receive such a personal gift. Back in school, Rex receives free lunches with his head held high. He asks for the lunch lady’s name (something he never bothered to do before) and makes conversation. Rex gratefully accepts his food and realizes that his mother was only trying to help him by enrolling him in the program, and he feels hopeful about the upcoming year.