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Free Lunch

ebook
0 of 1 copy available

Winner of the 2020 YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Award.

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.


Publisher: Norton Young Readers

Kindle Book

  • Release date: September 10, 2019

OverDrive Read

  • ISBN: 9781324003618
  • Release date: September 10, 2019

EPUB ebook

  • ISBN: 9781324003618
  • File size: 251 KB
  • Release date: September 10, 2019

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0 of 1 copy available

Formats

Kindle Book
OverDrive Read
EPUB ebook

Languages

English

Levels

ATOS Level:3.7
Lexile® Measure:540
Interest Level:4-8(MG)
Text Difficulty:2-3

Winner of the 2020 YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Award.

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.


  • Publisher:
    Norton Young Readers

    Kindle Book
    Release date: September 10, 2019

    OverDrive Read
    ISBN: 9781324003618
    Release date: September 10, 2019

    EPUB ebook
    ISBN: 9781324003618
    File size: 251 KB
    Release date: September 10, 2019

  • Kindle Book
    OverDrive Read
    EPUB ebook
  • English
  • ATOS Level: 3.7
    Lexile® Measure: 540
    Interest Level: 4-8(MG)
    Text Difficulty: 2-3
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