Register 20 Seats Remaining
Engage in a lively discussion and fun activities with Rex Ogle during this virtual watch party at your local branch! Recommended for ages 6-12.
This is a hybrid virtual event hosted on YouTube Live with the option to tune in from this branch location. All presenters will be appearing virtually for this Watch Party event. Registration is not required to attend, but you will receive a reminder email if you register.
If you would prefer to attend from a different location, please visit the primary Author Talk webpage for this event: Author Talk: Rex Ogle - Orange County Library System
You’re invited to join us online with award-winning author Rex Ogle as he talks about his struggles to navigate sixth grade as written about in his book FREE LUNCH. Recommended for ages 6-12.
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!
About the Author: Rex Ogle is the author of Free Lunch, winner of the YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Award; Punching Bag, a New York Public Library Best Book; Abuela Don’t Forget Me, finalist for the YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Award; and Road Home, which received a Printz Honor and a Stonewall Book Award Honor. He lives in Los Angeles, California.
In-Person Watch Parties
Select Orange County Library System library branches will be hosting watch parties for this event! Please see the list of participating branch locations below:
South Trail Branch - 4600 S Orange Blossom Trl, Orlando, FL 32839
Southeast Branch - 5575 S Semoran Blvd Suite 46, Orlando, FL 32822
West Oaks Branch - 1821 E Silver Star Rd, Ocoee, FL 34761
The views expressed by presenters are their own and their appearance in a program does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent. Reference to any specific product or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by Orange County Library System.
AGE GROUP: | Kids |
EVENT TYPE: | Authors - Books - Writing |
TAGS: | summer-kids | ipevents | bb-meet-the-author |
LYNX Bus Link 107 South US 441 (South Orange Blossom Trail) / Kissimmee
LYNX Bus Link 8 W. Oak Ridge Rd. / International Dr.
LYNX Bus Link 40 Americana Blvd. / Universal Orlando
Located in the Orange Blossom Center, the South Trail Branch is an open, bright branch with lots of sunshine. The branch is located in a commercial center, adjacent to numerous multi-family housing units and is a popular spot for children and families.
The history of South Trail branch spans almost four decades. It began as the Ft. Gatlin branch at 105 Gatlin Avenue in 1965. The branch moved to the corner of Holden Avenue and South Orange Blossom Trail in 1981. The move across the street to the current site in the Orange Blossom Center took place in 1996.
Any person requiring special accommodations to participate in any class or event due to a disability may arrange for accommodations by contacting the location at which the event is held at least seven days prior to the event.
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