Rex Ogle

This one's been out for a little over a year, but I never reviewed it. I need to get better at keeping up with my reviews. As the new volume just came out, it's the perfect time to review both. 

Rex Ogle writes from an autobiographical point of view. He tells about growing up poor in the early-mid 90s. I don't remember him mentioning an exact year, but that could just be me not paying attention. But both TMNT and Power Rangers are a thing, so that's gotta be 90s. 

Rex lives with his mother and stepfather and their young son. His father never makes an appearance aside from a couple phone calls when they need help paying for Rex's new glasses. His grandmother is my favorite character. She is AMAZING. 

So Rex is entering 6th grade as a poor student who doesn't know many kids at his new middle school. Something about rezoning blah blah. He's already on free lunch and embarrassed by it. Now he needs glasses. His mom can't afford the expensive frames he falls in love with, so he gets something similar, but not as good. And they're quite thick. So now you've got the typical glasses bullying going on at the same time as Rex's best friend gets pulled away by the popular crowd. 

Rex makes some new friends (and enemies) along the way, but eventually gets more comfortable in his new school. 

 

The newest volume, which just came out, introduces poor Rex to puberty. He gets the acne and stinky end of the stick without growing or his voice deepening. 

Rex struggles with this, as well as with the reappearance of a childhood friend that ends up being a lot of trouble. He makes some pretty big mistakes but ends up with some new friends at the end. 

Once again, Abuela saves the day. I understood Rex's mother better in the first one, but if you can't afford to buy your almost teenage son deodorant, something's gotta be done. I found her way more unlikeable in this one. His stepfather shows a hint of the violent person he seems to have been, too. The parent characters are why I don't want to read the author's memoir books. I know domestic violence plays a big role. These graphic novels are very sanitized. I'll stick with the more feel-good version with the cute art.