Hello everybody and welcome to our web cast.
This is Rhonda Mahalick I'm the director
of marketing for Junior Library Guild.
I wanna see an extra special hello
to all of our homebound students
and educators who are joining us.
We have a lot more folks who we
welcome to this web cast and we're
so excited to be able to bring you
this live author chat with Rick Ogle.
And before we get started, I want to just.
A few housekeeping items with you guys.
Um, first of all,
I want you to know that the web
cap is being recorded.
So if for some reason you have to hop
of- or someone you know who would love,
this is unable to make it you will.
It will be recorded and you can
come to our website and click on
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and you'll be able to receive the.
The link to view it and you can also then
share it with anybody that you'd like
and there was no registration required.
Will also be doing a Q&A at the
end and so you have an opportunity
to ask questions of Rex.
Some of you did send questions in
Pryor and so we've got those handy,
but please consider putting questions in
the Q and a box or using our chat box too.
And let us know what you'd like
to hear talk about.
So without further ado,
I'm going to pass the baton over to Susan
Marston to their editorial director.
She's in our New York City office,
she biked in today just for it
because we're all working from
home just like everybody else.
So take it away, and again,
we're so glad to have you.
Hi everybody, thanks for tuning in.
So Rex husband since 85 involved
in the world of literature,
art and pop culture.
He grew up obsessed with books
and movies and he has spent much
of his career in what he called
dream job after dream job in
editorial capacity that DC Comics,
scholastic, little,
Brown and company and more.
He's a powerful force behind the page
and now he's also an incredible talent.
On the page, his debut memoir Free
lunch has gained wide acclaim.
In addition to being a Junior
Library Guild selection,
it was this 2020 Jelsa Excellence
in nonfiction award winner.
As an editor,
Rex said there is nothing more
exciting or more joyful than imagining
a world and breathing life into
it by putting it down on paper.
And now he has breathed life into
his own story with free lunch.
And we're so honored to have him here
today to talk about his experience.
Hyrax
It's great to be here.
I hope everyone is hanging in there,
not just on this call,
but everyone out there.
It's a crazy world right now.
Rex, could you briefly
describe free lunch to, uh,
yeah, absolutely.
So free lunch is middle grade memoir,
meaning it's a true story.
It's my story about my first
six months in six grade I was
dealing with a lot of stuff.
The usual stuff like you know
where to sit making new friends.
I make good grades,
but I was also dealing with poverty
and some domestic violence at home.
Which was very heavy and I wanted to
write this story because I I think
it's an important one and
I think there's a lot of.
People out there who have either
lift, do that, or are living
through that right now.
About the reading it in our our staff,
everybody who read it was
absolutely moved by it.
I wonder if you could share a
passage of the book for those who
have not reconnect people who have?
Yeah, absolutely. I'm just going to read
a few pages from the first chapter.
For those of you haven't read, it starts
with me grocery shopping with my mom.
When we around the next corner,
there's another samples person.
This guy has cheese and crackers,
but there's no sign that says
free trying to be polite.
I ask, are these for free?
It gives me a dirty look.
If you're going to buy some hey,
my mom shouts I don't see a sign
saying anything about buying nothing
Rex. Go ahead, have as many as
you want. I feel my face red.
I'm hungry but I don't want to be rude.
I take the smallest cracker
with the little square of
cheese on it and I whispered.
Thank you. Don't think him.
My mom snaps at main
glaring at him. He thinks he's so much
better than us,
but he's the one selling cheese.
The cheese man mutters under
his breath trailer trash.
We don't live in the trailer anymore.
Mom shouts at him so there she takes
control of the the cart and pushes us away.
I'm relieved for a second.
I thought she was going to pick a fight.
It wouldn't be the first time.
My mom doesn't shy away from much,
especially confrontation as we move
through the check out a few minutes later,
mom is still agitated talking to herself
like a crazy person looking down on us.
He doesn't even know me.
He doesn't know my situations.
He thinks he's so much better
than a screw him at the register.
I transfer the items from the
cart onto the conveyor belt.
The cashier watches me as I look at
the candy racks cashier's always look
at me like they're watching to see if
I'll still something like I'm guilty
'cause my closer from a second hand store.
Well the cashier rings up stuff.
Mom pulls out her wallet.
She's counting money,
except the money looks different from usual.
I've never seen it before.
It looks like toy money, like from that game.
Monopoly,
it's all bright colored and says food coupon.
What is that?
I ask?
Don't worry about it.
Mom snaps. She pushes me
toward the end of the camera.
Don't just stand there being lazy,
bag the groceries.
The cashier finishes scanning,
then does the discount for the coupons.
She says the total mom hands are
the weird fake looking money.
The cashier punches the buttons and says
after the food stamps you owe $10.38.
What are food stamps I asked?
Don't worry about it. Mom repeats,
but this time she scowls at Maine.
In my head, I think stamps are for
the post office, so I wonder if mom
is going to Mail our food home,
but that doesn't make any sense
because we drove here so we
can drive our own groceries,
groceries, home like normal.
My mom pours all the cash and
change out of her wallet.
Xian wrinkles
eight $1 bills, then counts out $0.97,
mostly in pennies per hands.
Tense up her fingers looking like talons.
She says I'm a little short.
The cashier shrugs,
but really, she's all annoyed.
I can see it in her face.
The woman behind us with the full cart throws
up her arms and goes what is taking so long.
The man in line next to
his clears his throat.
It feels like everyone is
watching us frustrated.
Mom's face is strained.
A vein popping out of her forehead.
Suddenly, she seems embarrassed.
I feel embarrassed to mom snatches the loaf
of bread from the top of the Brown bag.
She shoves it towards the
cashier there take that offer.
You happy shopping is always like this,
but for some reason this time is worse.
May because of the food stamps.
Mom looks ashamed.
People are staring.
Then I look at our shopping list.
We didn't even get halfway down.
We can afford all our groceries.
Silence hangs between mom and main.
I carried the one back to the car and put it
in the back when I get into the front seat,
mom starts crying.
I'm not sure what to say
so I don't say anything.
We sit there for a long time.
When I reach out to put
my hand on her hand, she slaps it away.
Don't touch me, this is your fault.
You know how expensive it is
to raise an ungrateful brat.
I feel sick to my stomach.
I don't know if it's 'cause I'm
angry or sad or just hungry.
Probably it's all three ministers and priests
and Buddhist monks and talk show hosts.
All those people were supposed to
be real smart and wise and stuff.
They always say dumb things like money
isn't everything or the best things
in life are free, but they're wrong.
Money is everything.
The best things in life aren't
free and don't say something stupid
like Love is free 'cause it's not.
It costs money to take care
of the people you love.
When mom isn't working,
she's always upset and sad and she
can't love me like a normal mom.
She gets mad at every little thing.
No job means no money.
Which means no groceries or electricity
that makes all the love go out
of mom like air out of a balloon.
And who wants an empty balloon?
When Mom's working, she's nicer.
She definitely loves me more
when she has money,
but she can afford groceries and
pay rent on time and bills too.
And all that job she can think straight.
She remember she cares about Maine,
but don't tell me.
Love is free 'cause I know
nothing in this world is free.
Every little thing cost something and
for some reason things cost a whole
lot more when you're poor.
Wow, that transported me
right there with you. Um?
Free lunch has been praised for that
authentic and distinctive middle Grade
Voice that you just demonstrated there.
How did you cultivate that?
Oof, it was not easy, uh?
The first time I wrote the first draft,
it was from an adult perspective,
but I felt like that was wrong because
you knew that you know I survived
because I'm writing the book later, um,
and I realized that I really wanted
my audience not to connect with me.
Rex is an adult,
but me Rex as a kid because Rex is a kid,
is the one who lived through that,
and he didn't know where his
next meal was coming from.
Sometimes he didn't know if
he was going to survive.
He didn't know, you know.
What is going to happen in the future and
I think a lot of kids are living with that,
so cultivating that was
super important to Maine.
And to do that I went back and I listen
to all the music that I listen to.
At the time I watch the same TV shows and
the movies the story takes place in 1989,
so almost 30 years ago.
Oh yeah, over 30 years ago,
so going back and really getting into the
head of who I was at that time was hard,
but I I revisited all places I talked to
old friends and went back to my school,
which is pictured here.
Um,
to really kind of get back in the
mindset of who I was and so to do that,
it was difficult,
but I think it was a necessary process
to make the story feel more real.
It's amazing that it took that much research.
To write a book that is your story.
Yeah, it's funny because when I I first
wrote it, I was like nonfiction will
be easier to write than fiction,
because nonfiction Israel,
but it turns out it was.
It was harder for one reason.
Uhm, I didn't know where to start.
The story, where to in the story. It took
a lot of like figuring out.
You know what in my life can be like,
Bookended? Uh, to make a story feel like
as a beginning and ending and that's
harder with real life.
When you, how did you first begin writing?
Did you do a lot of journaling?
Actually, I loved making up
stories as a kid. Uhm, you know,
I spend a lot of time by myself.
I was born and raised in Texas.
I was an only kid for a long time until I was
eight or nine when my brother came along.
But before that, you know,
I spend a lot of time by myself,
so I was always making up stories in my head.
I love movies. I love comic books.
I I just loved. I love stories.
So I spend a lot of time creating
source and I would write them down and
sometimes I try to illustrate them.
The illustrations were not very good,
but I remember the first thing I.
Wrote was probably in first or
second grade and it was a comic book,
but mostly with pros,
just with a lot of art in the
margins and on the sides.
About me.
Going to the moon in a spaceship with a
monkey and I was very proud of that story.
That's probably 20 pages,
which was a lot at the time,
so I've been writing. You know, forever, but
in Junior High Middle School,
Junior High High school I was keeping
journals and I did all through
college and even up to now
I used to write in journals.
But now I do it. On my computer,
just 'cause it's faster, uhm, but yeah.
I mean when I was writing the
stories, I'd go back and read
some of the journals and that
really helped me with the boys.
Did you have my? My son always
got in trouble for drawing on his
papers and trying to make little
side stories for his assignment.
Didn't did that happen to you also?
Did I remember in sixth grade
the English teacher and I?
I do want to give a caveat.
I loved all my English teachers.
The only one I ever had a problem
with happens to be the one in this
book and I actually feel really bad
that I I didn't say anywhere like
I had great English teachers who
always encouraged me and help me
to become a better writer and help
me like gave me book suggestions
and we're always encouraging me to
read so I know this this one book,
the English teacher,
does not come off that great but she.
Uh, I remember for Halloween.
This chapter.
I actually wrote this in the chapter,
but it didn't make the cut,
but it was, uh, a Halloween
assignment we were supposed to
write a one page short story,
and I wrote 35 pages and
it was an amazing horror epic
horror movie type story and I was.
I got maybe two or three pages
into reading it to the class
'cause we had to present them. And
something saucy happened.
It was like, absolutely not,
you cannot read that in class.
This is Satanic. I was like,
it's not Satanic there's.
It's a spooky Halloween story.
Uhm, so yes, I always loved writing.
I always loved going that extra bit.
And yes, sometimes I got in trouble for it.
Um? So How do I get to go from
writing comics and writing many
different stories under pseudonyms
to writing your own memoir?
What was how is it different?
So it I one thing you know I I wrote a
lot of books when I was at Scholastic
because when you're an editor,
uhm, you're trying to,
you know, work within a budget.
And so I got to write a lot
of short stories myself.
These were like 6 by nines
and readers 8 by eights.
Those are like.
About that big.
There's usually like 24 pages.
Lots of artwork, uhm,
but I wrote stories like a Lego DC,
Superman and Batman save
the world a I wrote like
Transformers and Despicable Maine.
And those are
all really fun.
And because we're working with
some of your favorite characters
and it's really fun because it's,
you know, you watch,
you get to part of the assignment
is like you have to go home and
you watch the movies and you
watch the TV shows and even
come up with original stories.
And that just seems like so much
fun to do because that's what
I was doing when I was a kid.
Um, so moving from doing that to write
in comic books was just amazing.
I haven't read it as many comics
as I would like.
I want Marvel and DC to give me more
work because I just I love X men and
I love writing those characters and
that would be a dream come true.
But writing my own stuff so much more
difficult because for one thing,
you have to build the world yourself.
You have to build the characters yourself.
You don't get to rely on
the TV shows in the movies,
in the toys that you're familiar with.
So everything you're doing, everything
you're creating is coming from your brain,
which is both super awesome and
sometimes really difficult because
you want to do really cool things.
But you also want to be true to yourself,
so it's definitely as much
as I love creating world.
It definitely comes with
a lot more difficulty.
It's not as easy.
So did you have other kids
that you drew comics within?
Wrote stories with?
Or was that a solo occupation?
I've had friends who are creatives and you
know, I think in high school I had friends,
a few friends who could draw and we
always try to partner, but I would,
you know, go up and write an entire
comic book issue and then give it
to them the next day and be like,
OK, I wrote you a script.
Now you can illustrate it and
they'd be like this is really long.
This is 20 pages.
I'm not going to illustrate this.
Or maybe they get one or two pages.
Then it be like this is a
lot of work and I was like
yes, but you if you wanna do it you
have to work and that's The thing is.
I think a lot of people get intimidated.
You know one of my best friends in New York,
uh, I worked with its classic.
I won't mention his name
because I don't want to shame,
but he's one of the most talented
illustrators I've ever met and I
was like you have to draw.
You have to draw and he's like I'm
scared of getting rejected.
I'm scared of people telling me
I'm I'm bad and I was like but if
you don't you'll never do anything.
You just don't have this amazing talent,
but no one will ever see.
And so I think the earlier
you know I would go into.
Remember going to first time I went
to the modern Museum of Art in New
York City and I saw Jackson Pollock
and I don't know if you all are familiar,
but he does. He's huge canvases
and will paint, Webex, Skype. Is an art.
I could do this and I remember I
said that to one of my friends in his
late but you didn't and I was like
what I could but you didn't.
And then I was like, Oh my God,
my friend is right. Like if
I want to be a writer, I just
have to write an even if people
tell me that my writing is bad
or if it sucks or they say
this will never be a book.
You just have to keep writing.
You have to keep doing it because eventually
you know I've logged thousands of rejections,
thousands of rejections from editors
and agents, and people say no.
And for a long time that you know in the
beginning that really hurt my feelings.
And then I was like no,
you have to just keep doing
it because eventually yes.
And I have a book,
so I guess it worked.
Do you have advice for ways
to keep yourself going?
Like kids who are writing
their own story, what?
What are some techniques
that they could use to?
Keep encouraging,
I say one of the biggest things I tell
people is writing is like marathon running.
When I was 30 years old I decided I was
going to run a marathon was like 26 miles.
Or maybe it's 26 kilometers.
I don't know. I'm not good at math.
I'm going to run a marathon
and I was so excited.
Uh, and I started training
because you have to train for it
and 1st you run one mile then you
run 2 miles and you run 4 miles
and you work your way up. Uh,
I got to 8 miles and my
body would just breakdown.
I'd get sick, I'd be exhausted.
I was like it can't do this.
And it's because I
my body just didn't wanna do it.
But I realized that I had to train.
I was pushing myself too hard.
I was running until I was physically
sick and I wasn't. I wasn't training.
I wasn't doing it every day.
I would run like once a month
and expect to just magically
be able to run a marathon.
and I wasn't putting in
the work that is wired.
and I think that writing books is like that.
I don't think you can just
wake up one day and say,
I'm gonna write a book and you know what?
If you can do it, that's awesome.
There are probably
people out there who have genius.
Me, I'm not like that.
I had to really work at it.
Uhm, so I started writing 30
minutes every single day.
And then I went from 30 minutes to
an hour and I went from an hour
to two hours and then I got to a
point where I was writing five
hours a day and this is after
going to work all day today.
So basically wait, go to work,
come home 6:00 PM at night and
that's when I would start writing.
6:00 PM to 11:00 PM every night,
Monday through Friday.
I got weekends off because I needed a break,
but I just kept on doing
it and I kept on doing it.
I kept on writing and I kept
on writing. And not all my stuff was good,
but every time I wrote I learn and
I learned kind of have that muscle
in my brain to keep writing and to
really tell a story. And it was
also it made me pay better attention
when I read books or watch movies
or read comic books like let's
say Oh I see what they did there.
Oh, I see why I really like this.
I don't like this.
And as a writer, you start to learn things.
You start to cultivate these things and
then eventually your brain changes.
Do automatically.
So my advice is just keep writing.
If you want to write, write a book.
Anyone can write a book,
but they have to do.
What advice could you give kids who don't
know how to start telling their story?
That's a good question.
Uhm, I think the first
thing you do. You know what?
This is something that I do.
If you don't know you kind
of have an idea for a story,
but you're not sure.
The first thing to do is try
to do an outline.
Uhm, and the way that I I
like to do things his first
time will put the title and
if I can't come up idle then I come up with
a log line. That's what they call it.
Whenever you have a sentence,
it's just like one sentence is kind
of like the summary. True story.
Think of it like oh, perfect example.
When you're scrolling through Netflix
and you're trying to find something to watch,
it gives like a one or two sentence
summary of what that story is about. I try
to come up with that sentence first so
that it gives me like kind of a focus
and then after that I come up with
a longer paragraph, something like
reading the back cover of a book which
is sometimes two or three paragraphs.
That way you have the one sentence
that it's like the ultimate focus
and then you have a summary that's
kind of like paragraph saying like
this is what this story is about.
Then after that I like to outline
it and then outlines are good
because I many times have been like I'm
gonna write a novel and I just started
writing it and I wrote and wrote.
About 200 pages and then realize I had
no idea how it ends and I was like,
well, I just put in a lot of work and I
I don't know how to rap up this story.
It's too complicated now,
but if you outline it and it's funny
because I think I think I know that
English teachers will tell you to outline
your essays before you write them.
And it's so true.
Basically it's like it's
like building a skeleton.
You have to have a skeleton before you
put the meat in the flesh and
the muscles in the hair and skin
and all that stuff on top of it.
You want to build your outline.
And so first you have to build a skeleton,
so if you're having a hard time,
definitely start small
and then kind of grow it.
What about students?
We don't think that their story
is worth telling. How can you?
I truly believe that everybody has
a story worth telling everybody,
everybody on this planet matters.
Every person on this planet that is
going through something different.
Every story is unique.
Uhm, and it's funny.
I I will say this.
You know, for 15 years I was writing books,
you know, coming home from
work and writing every night.
and I wrote book after book after book.
I probably written like 10 books
that have never been published.
They weren't published because
they're missing something,
and I would take him out there and I'd send
him to agents and send them to editors,
and I'd be like,
wrote a book and they'd be like, Yeah, great.
The plots amazing.
The characters are good,
the dialogues good.
But the heart is missing and I
was like I don't understand.
And for a long time I didn't understand.
And then I wrote free lunch.
Free lunch is a story about my childhood.
It's about.
Being poor,
it's about a grown-up picked on being,
you know,
abused at home.
And The
funny thing is that when I
was writing all those stories,
none of those stories had anything
to do with anything about Maine.
And when people were saying
there's no hard in it,
it's because I was ashamed of my childhood.
I was ashamed of who I was.
I was embarrassed about who I was,
and I didn't want to talk about myself.
I was great at making up
stories about superheroes who
fly to space in battle aliens,
but there is no hard and that there was no.
There is no version of me inside of it.
And I was ashamed of myself and
when I started to accept myself and
accept my past and accept all those
things that I was embarrassed up
when I really started to put that
into a story when I wrote that down,
that's how I got published.
It's because I wrote a story
about me and I was
I began to accept me for who I was.
So kids who think, Oh well, I can't
write a story because no one wants
to read about me. It's not true.
People want to know about you.
They want to know about your authentic self.
You know, all of us have a
fingerprint that is 100% unique.
Because you're 100% you need
and you should tell your story
because their story is worth
telling and you'll be surprised.
People want to hear your story because
more people are likely than you think.
And do you have any advice for
how to the female you read is so
immediate there so many details
and we can all put ourselves right
there by listening to that moment.
How did you distill it?
How did you pull out those details?
How can you make it that immediate? Yeah,
I think. That's more difficult.
One thing is you know it's
going to have an editor.
My editor was amazing at that
when I gave him my first draft,
it was probably.
100 pages longer and there are lot
of chapters that weren't necessary.
He really helped me to focus in on
what was important to tell the story.
To really pull on the themes
that I was driving for.
Because when you're writing
stories It's easier to have too
many ideas than not enough ideas,
but if you have too many
ideas they can take away. So
you really want to distill it down.
I think the best way to kind
of make an analogy for that is
cooking. I don't know if
any of you like to cook.
I like to cook, uh,
it's like when you make sauces,
sometimes you have to get the
border along time because
the more you boil it down
with soup soup is a good example.
Soup is water and vegetables
and meat and it's all in a big
pot and you're cooking it well,
you want it to boil for awhile sometimes
because it brings the flavor out
it really the longer you cook it,
the longer you work at it.
You it simmers down on that
water boils off so you get a
better flavor and so I think that's
that's the same thing with writing.
You just kind of have to keep
working at it and and you know the
first time you write something.
The first dress is never going to be perfect,
and if it is your genius and my hats
off to you because I can't do that.
I write draft after draft after draft
after draft and I have to revisit it.
Sometimes a lot just to get it to
really come across the right way.
And so do you separate the you are?
Are you working with an editor?
But the judgment that you come with
re reading something and revising
you separate the writing in the
revising and do what do you find
in reviving that changes things.
Well, I tried to write a first draft.
After first before,
because some people will be like no.
I need the first chapter to be
perfect before I can write chapter
two and was like if you do that.
We see nothing,
not even when I read my book.
Now, even when I was just reading it,
I changed a few sentences because
I was like who it would have
been better fights in it.
This way nothing will happen.
I mean, it's still in every time I read it,
like I'll catch something.
I'll be like, oh, you know what?
This is a good word,
but this word would have been better.
And so if you're trying to
make something perfect,
please listen when I say nothing is perfect.
Nothing in life is ever going to be perfect.
I mean, if you try to be perfect,
it's just so hard. It's so hard to
be perfect, and so I just say just
work on something till it's pretty good
and then put it out there and then
you'll get an agent will give you notes
and then you'll get an editor
who will give you notes and
then you will have family.
But you could have done this
better and you know what?
100% that is true.
Anything can always be made better
but if you keep doing that
you'll never finish anything.
I think it's better just to do it
until it's as good as its gonna get.
And then move to the next problem.
So how about if you give it to your friend?
Your friend reads it and you disagree
with what your friends criticisms are.
What do you do about that?
I think that that you have to take it.
You can't take it personally.
If you take someone's criticism
personally and someone
says, Well, you know what
I really like this chapter,
but I don't agree that this
character drives a red car.
You get really upset me like no.
He drives a red car.
If you ask different why,
why do you think he should
not be driving a red car?
What do you recommend if you really engage
your friend and they're like,
well, I think that because his
favorite color or he loves this guy
in his favorite color is blue,
then he should be driving a
blue car, not the red car.
If you really engage with the
person who's giving you notes,
they're probably giving
me notes for a reason.
And sometimes if you just open yourself
to that and you don't take personally,
don't make your story better.
I can't tell you how many times
I've had an editor give me notes,
and I was like I never
thought of it like that.
But that makes perfect sense.
Ohmygod, thank you.
You have made my sister better.
Now that happens maybe
9 out of 10 times every.
Once we get to know and I'll be like
now so you don't always change it,
but just keep your heart.
You'll know when you change
it and when you should.
How did writing your memoir impact you?
Who? Honestly, when I was writing it,
it was very difficult.
As you've seen from some of the slides,
you know, my mom worked at a Chinese
restaurant called Bobo China.
We lived in government subsidized housing.
It was my childhood was not the easiest
and I do want to say that I don't think by
any stretch that I had a.
Childhood I think it was very
difficult and I definitely
lived through difficult things,
but I think there are so
many kids out there going
through more difficult things.
And so when I was writing free lunch,
it was very difficult for me to
go back and revisit that because
it had been 30 years. I had moved
away. I had moved on.
I had kind of put my past in the past.
But going to revisiting it
was really, really,
really difficult for Maine.
Sometimes when I would finish a chapter,
I would be exhausted.
Sometimes when I finish the chapter
I would go and buy a pint of ice
cream and eat in one sitting
and they need a box of cookies.
And sometimes I would cry because
it was really emotionally attacked.
Sorry about something so hard,
but I think that in writing
that I realize like
when I'd write science fiction.
You know I do it. Big
adventures in big battles,
but nothing was happening.
And again, that's because I wasn't
putting any hard into it. If
someone died, I just forgot I didn't have
any character actions because they didn't
want to deal with the emotional fallout.
So when I was revisiting free lunch,
I had to really dig in and I had to feel
those bruises again and I had to, you
know, talk about my mom hitting me
and I wanted to revisit things that
I didn't want to revisit so the
impact was very difficult to write.
It was hard and it was
emotional and it was exhausting.
And when I was done,
I think I slept like a week after
I cried for like 2 days, uh,
and I had panic attacks and I had a lot
of anxiety and I got really depressed.
But ultimately, you know, I got past it,
and I think that the stories important
one and I try to focus on that.
And now that I'm going on
school visits and meeting kids
and these kids were saying
I'm going through something similar.
It does make me feel worth it because
a lot of kids who said your story
makes me feel not so alone and that's
something I always felt this ticket.
As I always felt alone and now
years later I'm talking to
people and I'm realizing I'm not
alone and I wasn't alone in.
I just didn't know it.
Um, so if you're feeling emotional
while you're writing something,
that probably means you're doing
something right, so keep it up.
Have you reconnected with people you knew,
like fellow students in your school?
Then you didn't get along
with then or that you've
heard. It's been mixed, uh,
I'm still super close to my brother.
We talk, you know, once or twice a week
I see him three or four times a year.
He used to be my baby brother.
Now he's 6 inches taller than Maine
and probably 50 pounds bigger muscle.
So even though he's my baby brother and
I still think of him as my baby brother,
he's much larger than I am.
But he's great. He lives in Texas.
Him and his wife.
They don't call it a ranch,
but I call it a ranch.
'cause they
have. Horses and dogs and
parrots and chickens and ducks
and cats and various a dogs eye.
So many animals I can't even keep track
but it's amazing and he's a nurse and
she cuts hair and they just they have
such an amazing life and I'm so proud of
my little brother and it's weird because
he'll call me and tell me that he's
proud of me and it's weird because we
don't really have parents but we have
each other so that's been amazing.
And As for friends, uh, I'm still
friends with most of my friends from
middle school were not as hard as
we used to be, but that's because,
you know we live in different places.
We don't see each other very often.
We all have families and we have
jobs and but we stay connected.
And it's been really nice because
they all read the book and then
immediately were like email in May.
And be like, Oh my God,
I didn't know you were going through that.
Another friend would be like I always
knew something bad was happening at home.
And then of course my best friend
who didn't know what was going on.
Is just like I can't believe you
painted that story he's like
I'm I'm so proud of you.
So again,
it's really cool hearing people say that
it would be nice if my parents at it.
They don't say that but that's OK.
This memory was about
your middle school life.
Do you plan any additional memoirs
about other aspects of your life?
Yes, so I've got a few
books under contract a.
Three of them are trilogy that
takes place in middle school.
Six grade, 7th grade, 8th grade.
In the first one is called four
eyes and it's about me getting
glasses 'cause I do wear glasses
even though I don't wear them all the time.
Uhm? So yeah, it's called four eyes and
it's about getting glasses in Middle
School for the very first time and how
that impacted my life and how kids made
fun of me and called me four eyes and.
It's uh. Elastic next year.
I'm super excited for that, um,
and then I have the more the follow-up
to free lunch coming out from Norton,
probably in a year or two,
and it's called punching bag. It's
definitely skews a little bit older. It's
more young adults in middle school,
but it definitely talks more about
violence at home and forgiveness
and blame and all the things
that are mixed up with that.
I can't wait. I'm sure other
people can't wait either.
Right, I think that's all the
questions I have for right now.
Do you have some other questions?
We do an. I'm excited to start
asking them because I know that
we have a lot of people on.
Here is a lot of people have similar
questions an it is very obvious that
they have completely enjoyed this
conversation between you two and just
are also just so grateful to erect
for writing the story that is just so
accessible an relatable to so many kids,
especially these days so.
We are going to start the
Q&A and Justice Act.
And so if you haven't after question,
please submit it.
But we have received so many that I,
I think there's no way we can
really get through all of 'em.
So I just want to encourage everyone.
If you're comfortable to fill out the
form that's in the resources box to it.
It said something like notifying me
about upcoming resources or webcast.
Fill that out because I think Rex had
been super kind and I have a feeling
it would be very willing to answer
some of these questions after this.
And we can send those answers
out to everybody. Anyway.
I'm doing.
I just want to call your attention
before we get to the questions
to some of the other things I
hope you've seen these already,
but we do have autographed copies of free
lunch that we're going to be raffling off,
so to speak, in a giveaway.
So if you'd like to be part of that.
Warm we have had some people run into
problems with putting their phone
number other information into the form.
Please know that this was
originally for our librarians,
and so when we opened up access to everyone,
some of the form questions are
just not applicable anymore.
So just put a character in the
field so it'll let you take it,
but don't know obligated to
provide any information or not
interested in providing so.
We also have the free lunch educators guide.
I encourage students to also download that.
It has some great discussion topics.
It has a really cool section about
writing your own story and it'll really.
It really falls.
Follows along with this conversation today,
so that's a great resource for everyone.
We have a couple of things available.
These are for our members.
You can shop $9 titles that we have
put together that are specifically
related to the summer reading
campaign that imagine your story.
We've pulled some of our favourites and.
Mark them down to $9.
Are hardcover 1st edition book
and we also have some categories
in our subscriptions that are
available for those things.
That building topics and we're giving away
free books for anybody who registered
to start receiving those categories.
We've got downloadable free free lunch
bookmarks which are a lot of fun,
so it comes on with several on a page,
so you just have to print them
out and cut him out.
You can use them yourself and then
we also have a link there too.
Are biography middle plus category,
which is the middle grade biography category
that Rex is book is in an hour collection,
so you might be able to see some other
things that if you enjoyed this talk.
If you have read the book
and you enjoyed the book,
that's a great category to be
able to see what other books we
offer in that thing John rhe and
then that that next one there.
Let me know about upending webcast.
That's the form I was mentioning if
you could just fill that out if you're
interested in getting a recap of these
questions will be happy to send that.
Here my died.
I I do that was gonna happen.
Uhm, I wanna just again real quick
before we get into questions.
Well actually you know what I'm gonna
say that I'm going to back that up.
Let's talk about some questions real quick.
So one question that has been
worded many different ways.
So I'm going to just kind of
reward it myself. Is is really?
There's a lot of people who are still
grateful that you have shared this.
Difficult story and one that
a lot of kids have been.
You know, faced with and they filled
a shame to an so especially now
while we're in the situation where
food is tight and maybe there's some
additional embarrassment with that.
Just what kind of advice would you
give to kids about just connect
loaning their situation and an
finding hope through you know,
maybe what you achieve them and just.
Knowing that they're not alone.
Yeah,
I think for me right now the
biggest concern is that you know,
because I went to school
relying on that free lunch.
Sometimes that was my only meal of the day.
Um, and I also got free
breakfast sometime and I really,
really needed those meals.
and I know that a lot of
kids are now schools canceled
there at home. They're not getting food.
There are resources if you have access,
look up no kid hungry or Save the Children.
I know those both of those organizations.
Right now we're trying to
figure out ways to get food.
Two kids who need food at home,
specially for lunch.
So there are resources out there.
I'll try to look up more and share those.
But I would also say like.
You know? Understand.
That people are going through this.
Uh, have patience with people.
Have patience with your parents.
Have patience with your sibling.
You know this is a difficult
time for everyone.
It's more difficult for some than others, but
we're all in this together and
we're going to survive this.
Hopefully not. Hopefully we will.
I like an optimistic attitude.
We will be fine.
We live in a great country.
We have great technology.
We have great Medison.
You know we're going to figure this out,
so just stay hopeful and stay positive.
And don't be negative.
And make sure to laugh a few times a day.
Try to smile.
Even if you don't feel like smiling,
that helps. Um and I.
I guess this is maybe like a weird analogy,
but there's this Buddhist monk that
I really like named pitch, not hot.
He was exiled from his home country
in Vietnam and he writes all
kinds of books that I've read.
And there's one book called no mud,
no Lotus, and it's about a Lotus flower,
which is a really beautiful
flower if you haven't seen it.
Any points out that all beautiful
Flowers grow from grow from
mud and you know you look at mud and you
don't think mud is beautiful and there's
probably a little bit of dog poop or
animal feces. In that MoD, but that's good,
because that helps the flower to grow.
So my point being is that we're all
going through a lot of crap right now,
but that's good for us anything. Bad
that is happening to you. Don't look
into something bad that's
happened to you. Look at uh,
something that's making you stronger.
That's very good advice.
This is another question that we have
been phrased a lot of different ways,
but I want to read this one
because it was touching to me and
I think you will enjoy hearing it.
When I told my 6th grade
daughter about this book,
she asked me if we could read it together.
She cried several times throughout and said,
You are now her favorite author
and she wants to know if anything
got better and stayed that way.
And a lot of people talk about the end of
the book is really uplifting and hopeful,
so we kind of want to know.
Uhm, I hate answering this
question, but I've promised
myself since the beginning
that any question ever get.
I will answer honestly.
And so the truth is,
is that there were Upson downs.
I ended the book on a positive
note because I think that it
needed to end on a positive note.
And so I took
a positive moment in my life and that was me,
recognizing that my mom wasn't 100%
well and that she needed my help and
I I needed to end the story there.
Um, things were better sometimes.
Sometimes they weren't. Uh, the
violence definitely got worse
later, especially in junior
high and high school.
And you know, I
shut up school blackeyes bloody noses.
Uhm, I have lots of horror stories,
but you know what things
did get better? Uh, because you know I
went to school and made the grades. I
put myself through College,
you know I had some other bad things
happen to me, but I always had my
way LA my grandmother is amazing.
She still around.
We still talk everyday an even though
she was the only person in my life who
is there for me throughout saying.
Happy, positive, supportive things.
I just need that one voice I needed that
one verse in my life to say I can do it.
I can make something myself and I did
I moved to New York City with the
duffel bag and $300 and two years
later I was working at DC Comics.
Editing comic books come and if I can do it,
coming
from where I came from. So can you.
I believe that anybody can make
themselves and they can overcome
anything and they if they push
themselves and they work hard.
It can't. It will pay off.
You just have to.
You have to stay optimistic
and you have to stay strong.
So Speaking of your your job at DC Comics
and just your experience in general,
attract novel one of the questions
we received was why didn't you go?
Why did you create free
lunch as a graphic novel?
The easiest question is 'cause I can't draw.
I am very good at telling artist how to draw.
I'm gonna art direction by myself so
trust me, I actually said that to an
editor who I really love and would
have loved to work with and he told
me turn it into a graphic novel.
But if you can't draw your story yourself.
I think I think something
a lot of the important, the little
moments, the little details would
have been lost in translation because
I would be having I would be writing
it down and then having an artist
Rod and the artist wouldn't be able
to convey certain things that I needed to.
So that's one thing when you're
telling stories that you kind
of have to decide for yourself.
You know, some stories make great movies,
but they would make terrible books
in some stories. Make great books,
but make terrible TV shows in some.
Stories make great comic books,
but it would be terrible prose novels.
So whenever you have an idea for a story,
you kind of have to ask yourself,
what is the best format for my story?
For me, I I wrote free lunch and
someone said this should be a graphic
novel was like I would love for
it to be a graphic novel I think
would be an amazing graphic novel.
And maybe one day we will turn into
a graphic novel, but for right now.
It needed to be pros because
I needed the story to be 100%
me telling the story and if I
had another artist drawing it,
he some of the details might have been lost,
so that's why that said.
I love graphic novels.
Graphic novels are great,
so if you love graphic novels,
keep reading graphic novels. I
have maybe 500 graphic
novels and I love them. Uh?
So if those are your favorite books,
I say keep your Dinos if
you like pros, read those.
Whatever you're doing.
Just keep reading because the
more stories you read. Uh.
I honestly think that stories
are a gateway to happiness.
Well, I am very glad he wrote it as pros
because I admit to start this off by
thanking you for reading that passage for us.
That was very powerful and we actually I.
I'm just kind of peeking around at this,
a question that are coming in there
coming in so fast and furious.
We really can't get to all of them,
but one of them says my husband runs
the free store food bank in Cincinnati
and I read him the first chapter
because I was so mad at your mom.
He looked at me and said that that
story is typical of his client.
And it had been still that
empathy and compassion, and,
uh, put our kids really.
Yeah, pretty much. Well, thank you.
Thank you to everyone who's
listening and watching.
Uh, one thing I do want to mention is
that this story took place in 1989.
So again, 31 years ago,
which makes me feel old.
But that's OK.
What I want you to focus on is
that in 1989 I did not have the
resources that are available today.
We did not have the Internet.
We did not have cell phones.
We did not have the amount of
charities in services and people
in awareness that there is today.
So my story at times probably
felt a little hopeless,
but we didn't know about food banks.
We didn't know about these
kinds of things, and you
know what? My mom was probably too proud if
if if she did know bout food banks,
we didn't go because she was
a very very proud woman.
She wouldn't even accept food from
her mother, which is silly, uhm?
And that's just pride.
Get in the way of a meal and I would
say to anybody out there who is hungry.
There are resources.
Just look for them.
I'm sure you can type in free lunch or
free meals or food bank and you will
be able to find resources near you.
There are so many resources,
so if you were hungry,
please reach out because of resources
do exist now and they are excessively.
I'm Speaking of resources.
There are a lot of educators on the
call who are are wondering if you have
suggestions for them and how they can be.
How they can provide that kind of support?
Or encourage that kind of support
from their role as education? I
mean, I mean,
it's funny because I remember growing up.
I used to go to Public Library.
It wasn't my school library.
Lot Public Library was like my safe space.
I went there all the time.
If Grapevine public libraries
listening Hi Call Maine and miss y'all.
But the librarians there were amazing.
There was one librarian,
and I don't even think she worked there.
I think she was volunteer,
and every time I came in,
I swear she must have brought in an
extra Apple every day.
Or maybe she just gave me her Apple,
but she knew I don't know how she knew,
but she knew it should always be like.
Here's an Apple, and she was
always giving me apps. and
I mean, I can't tell you how many
times I looked forward to that
Apple and they were always green.
Granny Smith apples and it's funny,
because now I won't eat
any other kind of apples.
I love green Granny Smith apples.
They are the best.
Uh, and I'm not saying like
brand should be giving out food
because I know that librarians,
you know, have their struggles to.
But you know, if there is a
way to partner with local.
Farmer or a local grocery store?
Because a lot of food gets tossed out,
a lot of food gets wasted.
Partner with restaurants.
Make free pizzas.
If you can get pizza huts a sponsor
like a free lunch on Saturdays,
do it. If
not, definitely if you have students
that you know are hungry or whose
family hasn't had a meal in awhile.
Again, get online. Get on Google.
Any search engine and type in food bank.
Go to no kids hungry.
Go to Save the Children.
There are tons of resources out there.
I'm not as familiar as I want to be.
I'm trying to educate myself,
but I'm trying to figure out
who's reliable on who's not.
So um, I'm working on it.
Give me some time.
Uhm, and yeah,
hopefully you know you'll be
able to help through that.
Another question that we've got a lot
is basically kind of wondering about
your contact information and if you
have a way that students to have read
your book can can interact with you,
but also a lot of the educators are
interested in interacting with you and
talking about the possibility of skyping
or with their classes, or someday,
hopefully very soon school visits.
I know you've done a lot of those,
so can you tell us a little bit about
how folks can get in touch with you?
Yeah, I'm I'm terrible at social media.
I just signed up to Twitter yesterday.
I've posted, I think once but so I'm I'm on
Instagram and I'm on Facebook
and I guess those are the two
best ways to find me. I have.
I bought a website domain name,
but I'm trying to figure out
how to make a website so again,
bear with me because technology
is not my friend.
I may need to have my niece
and nephew build it for me
because they're so Smart Tech
Savvy and every kid I knows.
Yeah, every kid is Super Smart,
so it's like I'm trying to put
it together website and
but for now social media,
Facebook and Instagram are the best
ways to get money and ask for Skype.
I mean for classrooms and stuff.
Classroom visits are obviously
not happening right now.
I've had to cancel a bunch,
but I think that.
Cool and it's I think it's great
like I I visited classroom sort of,
you know, read my book and done
book clubs and stuff like that.
and I think those are awesome.
So if I could do like 30 minutes
Skype calls here and there I will.
I am writing a bunch of books
so the only thing is like time
commitments but I will do what I can.
So just contact
me. Worst thing that happens is I say
next year, maybe later, but I
will try to do as much as I can.
Well, that might be a good segue
into the next slide that are
teasing about a little bit earlier.
But this is a little bit like a Skype,
and it's a little bit like an author visit,
so this is you guys are
the first to hear this.
This is really exciting.
We are partnering with Rex Ogle,
who is writing a real time book.
Aiden Tyler Quarantine about
what's happening right now and.
Motor planning
yeah. So basically you know
basically Monday, Tuesday I was
on Facebook an I'm in a lot of
librarian groups and librarians are.
I'm doing such an amazing job
like rushing an gathering
information on like authors doing
book readings on YouTube and Instagram
and Facebook live, and I was just
like so inspired and blown away
like librarians like motivating the
way they're doing it now and then.
I also notice any atoms and Jennifer
Garner are working with no kids hungry
and Save the Children to get food to kids
who are relying on this free lunches.
And, you know, I was just like what can
I do to help? What can I do to help?
And then I was like, you know what?
I'm a fast rider.
And first drafts aren't always great,
as I've said to you all,
but what I want to do
is I want to write a story
in real time. Uh, an.
It just all came to me Tuesday night and
I stayed up late writing the outline.
Writing the characters like
trying to figure out the chapters.
And So what I want to do
is what I'm going to do
is write a chapter every week,
and in that chapter will talk about
all the things happening in the news.
Right now, all the things that you
know about washing your hands about
there being no toilet paper in
the stores about, you know, being.
School being cancelled and having
to stay at home with your family and
wanting to pull your hair out or pull
their hair out or wanting to just
run outside and scream like these
are all things that are going to be
happening to all of us right now.
And that's OK.
And so I want to write a middle
grade story about,
you know these experience going on.
I'm talking to my nieces and nephews.
I'm talking to my friends.
I'm checking in with as many people
as I can and reading the news to
kind of figure out what all of us
are going through right now because
I want to write about it so that
you'll have a fun,
funny story that is also informative.
Else funny, uh,
to help us just kind of get through
it and so yeah,
um the JLG has been kind enough to
help me out with this so it sounds
like we're going to be trying to
do this once a week so stay tuned.
Yeah, we will. That's another
reason to fill out that form.
Or if you're a kid listening in,
maybe see if your parents could
fill out the form because we will
be letting you guys know as soon
as these web casts are ready.
Were our fingers are crossed to start
next week but just be patient with us?
'cause with everything that's going on
so we we can't commit just yet but but
I've already read the first chapter
so I'm considering myself Super Lucky
so I know you guys are going to enjoy
this and will make sure to get that
information out to you and we're working.
Also on getting some additional.
Other basically virtual author
visit webcast scheduled to.
So we want to make sure you
guys hear about him.
So I'm excited about that and more to come.
Stay tuned.
That things are not same topic.
We just today launched a
page called Jail G at home.
It's on our website
juniorlibraryguild.com/app dash
home an on there we have access.
We have links to our previous web
casts on demand and we have other
resources but the biggest one right
now that we really want to make
sure you guys know about is we are
giving free unlimited access to RJ
LG digital online reading platform.
And there are URLs in there to get you
directly to the pages for elementary books.
Middle grade books in high school books.
And there are also.
There's also directly with
giving you the passwords,
but the link from there to the to the age
level reading just get you in without
even needing to put in the password.
You're welcome to share that with anyone
and everyone who would enjoy having
opportunity to read a book from any device.
Things well.
Finding new ways to live and learn right now.
This is just I'll just share with
you if you're not familiar with
jail jiwire subscription service,
we have 80 plus categories of books that are
available from pre K to adult cost over an.
We are very well known in the library
industry as this is a big kudos to see the
Marston who still on your screen per team.
Select books before they go to press before
there's any buzz about the more reviews.
And in the books that they
choose for collection,
95% of those books go on to get these
amazing starred reviews and accolades
and win industry awards like rectangles.
Book 1 the Yalta Excellence in
nonfiction award this year.
So when you do consider jail G as
a collection development partners,
you can pretty much be guaranteed that
you will get the best of the best award
winning selections that are going to
also be super appealing to your readers.
I'm in this just told you how we work.
All of these lights can be available
to you if you do fill out the
will actually be applied one,
but this information will
be available to you.
Fill out that form so thank you
again in wreck that there's anything
else you'd like to end this with.
We'd love to hear finals negative wisdom
I I just want to say thank you to everyone.
Thank you to jail G.
Thank you to everyone.
Tuningen, thank you.
If you're a librarian for all
the amazing work you're doing,
and if you're a kid.
Whether you're hungry, you're not hungry,
hang in there, I know that.
It's a weird weird time right now,
but just remember to be happy.
Remember to take some self care
and take care of each other.
Thank you.
Thank you. I will see
you next week. Hopefully
yes, absolutely. I look forward to it.
Thank you all. Thank you, Rex.
Thank you. Rhonda, thank you everybody.
High season. Take care.