Skip to main content
close
Font size options
Increase or decrease the font size for this website by clicking on the 'A's.
Contrast options
Choose a color combination to give the most comfortable contrast.

Illuminating Hope and Grace in the Face of Hardship

with Rex Ogle (5th-8th Grade)

2025-07-23 16:00:00 2025-07-23 16:45:00 America/New_York Illuminating Hope and Grace in the Face of Hardship You’re invited to join us online 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. Virtual - Virtual

Wednesday, July 23
4:00pm - 4:45pm

Add to Calendar 2025-07-23 16:00:00 2025-07-23 16:45:00 America/New_York Illuminating Hope and Grace in the Face of Hardship You’re invited to join us online 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. Virtual - Virtual

Virtual

Virtual

You’re invited to join us online 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.

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.

This program is sponsored by the Friends of Duncan Library and the Friends of Beatley Central Library.

Upcoming and previously broadcast author talks can be viewed here.

AGE GROUP: | Teens | Children | All Ages |

EVENT TYPE: | Summer Quest | Special Event | Family | Children | Author Talks |

TAGS: | |

Virtual


Hours
Mon, Aug 25 9:00AM to 8:00PM
Tue, Aug 26 9:00AM to 8:00PM
Wed, Aug 27 9:00AM to 8:00PM
Thu, Aug 28 9:00AM to 8:00PM
Fri, Aug 29 9:00AM to 5:00PM
Sat, Aug 30 9:00AM to 5:00PM
Sun, Aug 31 9:00AM to 5:00PM

About the branch

Upcoming Events

Wed, Sep 03, 7:00pm - 8:00pm
Virtual
Embrace your dark side (and your best evil laugh) and join us in conversation with Hannah Nicole Maehrer, creator of the New York Times bestselling Assistant to the Villain series. Register

Thu, Sep 04, 7:00pm - 8:00pm
Zoom
Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with the following two stories by Argentinian poet, essayist, and short story writer Jorge Luis Borges: "The Form of the Sword" and "The Story of the Two Dreamers."

Mon, Sep 08, 7:00pm - 8:30pm
Zoom
We are celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month with a discussion of Xochitl Gonzalez's 2024 historical novel. Please join us.

Wed, Sep 10, 1:00pm - 2:00pm
Virtual
Join participants from Alexandria & our Sister City Helsingborg, Sweden for a discussion of the short story "The Gift" by Edwidge Danticat from her collection Everything Inside. Registration Required.Register

Wed, Sep 10, 2:00pm - 3:00pm
Virtual
Join us (and be ready to take notes) for an afternoon virtual conversation with communication expert Jefferson Fisher, as we chat about his book, The Next Conversation: Argue Less, Talk More. Register

Wed, Sep 10, 3:30pm - 5:00pm
Zoom
Please join us virtually for a discussion of a delightful Golden Age mystery, the first novel in the Pat and Jean Abbott series. Register

Wed, Sep 10, 5:30pm - 7:30pm
Virtual
Join Library of Virginia for a virtual volunteer session to learn how you can help make historical documents more searchable and usable for researchers now and in the future.Register