Punching Bag
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Punching Bag
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Narrated by:
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Ramon De Ocampo
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By:
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Rex Ogle
About this listen
The companion to Rex Ogle’s award-winning Free Lunch is a searing account of adolescence in a household torn by domestic violence.
Punching Bag is the compelling true story of a high school career defined by poverty and punctuated by outbreaks of domestic abuse. Rex Ogle, who brilliantly mapped his experience of hunger in Free Lunch, here describes his struggle to survive; reflects on his complex, often paradoxical relationship with his passionate, fierce mother; and charts the trajectory of his stepdad’s anger. Hovering over Rex’s story is the talismanic presence of his unborn baby sister.
Through it all, Rex threads moments of grace and humor that act as beacons of light in the darkness. Thoroughly enjoyable, beautifully crafted, and authentically told, Punching Bag is a remarkable memoir about one teenager’s cycle of violence, blame, and attempts to forgive his parents - and himself.
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Amazing book!
- By Christopher Gaines on 02-19-18
By: Andrew Smith
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The Taking of Jake Livingston
- By: Ryan Douglass
- Narrated by: Kevin R. Free, Michael Crouch
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 374
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 338
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Story4 out of 5 stars 338
Sixteen-year-old Jake Livingston sees dead people everywhere. But he can't decide what's worse: being a medium forced to watch the dead play out their last moments on a loop or being at the mercy of racist teachers as one of the few Black students at St. Clair Prep. Both are a living nightmare he wishes he could wake up from. But things at St. Clair start looking up with the arrival of another Black student - the handsome Allister - and for the first time, romance is on the horizon for Jake. Unfortunately, life as a medium is getting worse.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Brings up too much trauma
- By TheColorNerd on 10-14-21
By: Ryan Douglass
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Bad Kid
- A Memoir
- By: David Crabb
- Narrated by: David Crabb
- Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 76
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 71
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 71
Discovering George Michael's Faith confirmed for David Crabb what every bully already knew: He was gay. What saved him from high school was finding a group of outlandish friends who reveled in being outsiders. David found himself enmeshed with misfits: wearing black, cutting class, staying out all night, drinking, tripping, chain-smoking, idolizing the Pet Shop Boys - and learning lessons about life and love along the way.
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5 out of 5 stars
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I wish I could give this audiobook 1,000 stars
- By Kari Delaney on 02-01-23
By: David Crabb
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Guys Read: Funny Business
- By: Jon Scieszka, Adam Rex, Christopher Curtis, and others
- Narrated by: Michael Boatman, Kate DiCamillo, John Keating, and others
- Length: 5 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 119
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 86
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Story4 out of 5 stars 85
Funny Business is based around the theme of - what else? - humor, and if you’re familiar with Jon and the Guys Read Library, you already know what you’re in store for: 10 hilarious stories from some of the funniest writers around. Before you’re through, you’ll meet a teenage mummy; a kid desperate to take a dip in the world’s largest pool of chocolate milk; a homicidal turkey; parents who hand over their son’s room to a biker; and more.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Awesome super funny
- By sacha on 10-03-16
By: Jon Scieszka, and others
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Marlena
- A Novel
- By: Julie Buntin
- Narrated by: Emma Galvin
- Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 609
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 554
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Story4 out of 5 stars 557
Everything about 15-year-old Cat's new town in rural Michigan is lonely and off-kilter until she meets her neighbor, the manic, beautiful, pill-popping Marlena. Cat, inexperienced and desperate for connection, is quickly lured into Marlena's orbit by little more than an arched eyebrow and a shake of white-blond hair. As the two girls turn the untamed landscape of their desolate small town into a kind of playground, Cat catalogues a litany of firsts - first drink, first cigarette, first kiss - while Marlena's habits harden and calcify.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A Brilliant, Agonizing Portrait of a Young Woman
- By Sudi on 06-06-17
By: Julie Buntin
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A List of Cages
- By: Robin Roe
- Narrated by: Graham Halstead, Christopher Gebauer
- Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 261
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 234
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 234
When Adam Blake lands the best elective ever in his senior year, serving as an aide to the school psychologist, he thinks he's got it made. Sure, it means a lot of sitting around, which isn't easy for a guy with ADHD, but he can't complain, since he gets to spend the period texting all his friends. Then the doctor asks him to track down the troubled freshman who keeps dodging her, and Adam discovers that the boy is Julian - the foster brother he hasn't seen in five years.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Heart wrenching!
- By Heather Shaver on 02-28-18
By: Robin Roe
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Living Dead Girl
- By: Elizabeth Scott
- Narrated by: Kate Reinders
- Length: 2 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 362
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 303
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 306
When Alice was 10, Ray took her away from her family, her friends - her life. She learned to give up all power, to endure pain. She waited for the nightmare to be over. Now Alice is 15 and Ray still has her, but he speaks more and more of her death. He does not know it is what she longs for. She does not know he has something more terrifying than death in mind for her. This is Alice's story. It is one you have never heard, and one you will never, ever forget.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Serious book with a different point of view
- By Barbara Reed on 11-02-12
By: Elizabeth Scott
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Son of a Trickster
- By: Eden Robinson
- Narrated by: Jason Ryll
- Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 153
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 140
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Story4 out of 5 stars 140
Everyone knows a guy like Jared: the burnout kid in high school who sells weed cookies and has a scary mom who's often wasted and wielding some kind of weapon. Jared does smoke and drink too much, and he does make the best cookies in town, and his mom is a mess, but he's also a kid who has an immense capacity for compassion and an impulse to watch over people more than twice his age, and he can't rely on anyone for consistent love and support, except for his flatulent pit bull, Baby Killer (he calls her Baby) - and now she's dead.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Not Enough Fantasy. Too much pot.
- By Rena Tarlini on 09-07-19
By: Eden Robinson
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Marrow
- By: Tarryn Fisher
- Narrated by: Audra Pagano
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 549
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 490
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 489
Margo is not like other girls. She lives in a derelict neighborhood called the Bone, in a cursed house, with her cursed mother, who hasn't spoken to her in over two years. She lives her days feeling invisible. It's not until she develops a friendship with her wheelchair-bound neighbor, Judah Grant, that things begin to change. When a neighborhood girl, seven-year-old Neveah Anthony, goes missing, Judah sets out to help Margo uncover what happened to her. What Margo finds changes her, and with a new perspective on life she's determined to find evil and punish it.
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4 out of 5 stars
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HUH?? I'm so confused LOL
- By ❤️Cyndi Marie❤️🎧Audiobook Addicts🎧 on 09-15-16
By: Tarryn Fisher
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Ramona Blue
- By: Julie Murphy
- Narrated by: Therese Plummer
- Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 128
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 115
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 115
Ramona was only five years old when Hurricane Katrina changed her life forever. Since then it's been Ramona and her family against the world. Standing over six feet tall, with unmistakable blue hair, Ramona is sure of three things: She likes girls, she's fiercely devoted to her family, and she knows she's destined for something bigger than the trailer she calls home in Eulogy, Mississippi. But juggling multiple jobs, her flaky mom, and her well-meaning but ineffectual dad forces her to be the adult of the family.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Where was this book ten years ago?
- By S. F. Wilson on 05-08-18
By: Julie Murphy
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Thirsty
- By: Mia Hopkins
- Narrated by: Ozzie Rodriguez
- Length: 8 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 159
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 149
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 148
My name is Salvador Rosas. Back in the barrio, my past is written on the walls: ESHB. Short for East Side Hollenbeck, my father's gang - my gang. Hell, it's a family tradition, one that sent both my brothers away. They used to call me "Ghost" because I haunted people's dreams. Now I've got nothing going for me except a hipster gringo mentoring me in a new career. An ex-con making craft beer? No mames. Still, people in this neighborhood look out for one another.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Really good ....
- By AMSullivan1077 on 04-07-19
By: Mia Hopkins
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When We Collided
- By: Emery Lord
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Evans, Raviv Ullman
- Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 394
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 359
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 360
Seventeen-year-old Jonah Daniels has lived in Verona Cove, California, his whole life, and only one thing has ever changed: His father used to be alive, and now he is not. With a mother lost in a deep bout of depression, Jonah and his five siblings struggle to keep up their home and the restaurant their dad left behind. But at the start of summer, a second change rolls in: Vivi Alexander, the new girl in town.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Wow. This story is a feast
- By Julia Fairchild on 04-24-16
By: Emery Lord
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Sharks in the Time of Saviors
- By: Kawai Strong Washburn
- Narrated by: Jolene Kim, Kaleo Griffith, G. K. Bowes, and others
- Length: 10 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 596
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 525
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 522
In 1995 Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, on a rare family vacation, seven-year-old Nainoa Flores falls overboard a cruise ship into the Pacific Ocean. When a shiver of sharks appears in the water, everyone fears for the worst. But instead, Noa is gingerly delivered to his mother in the jaws of a shark, marking his story as the stuff of legends. Nainoa’s family, struggling amidst the collapse of the sugarcane industry, hails his rescue as a sign of favor from ancient Hawaiian gods - a belief that appears validated after he exhibits puzzling new abilities.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Glad This Was Free
- By Shad Huddleston on 04-01-20
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Before I Fall
- By: Lauren Oliver
- Narrated by: Sarah Drew
- Length: 12 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 3,609
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,168
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Story4 out of 5 stars 3,164
Samantha Kingston has it all: the world's most crush-worthy boyfriend, three amazing best friends, and first pick of everything at Thomas Jefferson High—from the best table in the cafeteria to the choicest parking spot. Friday, February 12, should be just another day in her charmed life. Instead, it turns out to be her last. Then she gets a second chance. Seven chances, in fact.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Beautiful.
- By Penny on 03-20-10
By: Lauren Oliver
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We'll Fly Away
- By: Bryan Bliss
- Narrated by: James Fouhey
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 38
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 31
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 31
Best friends since childhood, Luke and Toby have dreamed of one thing: getting out of their dead-end town. Soon they finally will, riding the tails of Luke's wrestling scholarship, never looking back. If they don't drift apart first. If Toby's abusive dad, or Luke's unreliable mom, or anything else their complicated lives throw at them doesn't get in the way. In a format that alternates between Luke's letters to Toby from death row and the events of their senior year, Bryan Bliss expertly unfolds the circumstances that led to Luke's incarceration.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Great Story Except....
- By Willizz on 05-18-18
By: Bryan Bliss
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Cracked
- By: K. M. Walton
- Narrated by: Nicholas Tecosky, Andrew Wilson
- Length: 5 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 31
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 29
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 29
Victor hates his life. He has no friends, gets beaten up at school, and his parents are always criticizing him. Tired of feeling miserable, Victor takes a bottle of his mother’s sleeping pills - only to wake up in the hospital. Bull is angry, and takes all of his rage out on Victor. That makes him feel better, at least a little. But it doesn’t stop Bull’s grandfather from getting drunk and hitting him. So Bull tries to defend himself with a loaded gun. When Victor and Bull end up as roommates in the same psych ward, there’s no way to escape each other or their problems. Which means things are going to get worse - much worse - before they get better.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Very interesting
- By Mitra Grondin on 06-07-15
By: K. M. Walton
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Purple Hearts
- A Novel
- By: Tess Wakefield
- Narrated by: Kyle Mason, Shayna Thibodeaux
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 264
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 235
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Story4 out of 5 stars 234
Cassie Salazar and Luke Morrow couldn't be more different. Sharp-witted Cassie works nights at a bar in Austin, Texas, to make ends meet while pursuing her dream of becoming a singer/songwriter. Luke is an army trainee, about to ship out for duty, who finds comfort in the unswerving discipline of service. But a chance encounter at Cassie's bar changes the course of both their lives.
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4 out of 5 stars
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RATING PURPLE HEARTS BOOK VS PURPLE HEARTS MOVIE
- By Rozzy on 02-05-23
By: Tess Wakefield
What listeners say about Punching Bag
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Donna368
- 12-26-22
Painful and Inspiring
This book is a tough one. Very real and honest look at abusive relationships and mental illness. Despite the difficulties of experiencing Rex’s pain through his words, it was also inspiring to let teens know that there is truly a light at the end of the tunnel.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 07-19-24
Rex Ogle is a hero
It’s horrible that Rex had to go through everything he did to become the man he is today. So many children have a rough and violent childhood, and lots of children cannot say they made it through to the other side, like Rex did. I’m so glad he’s happy now. I had a great childhood with a loving mother. After reading Rex’s books it might make me a little more present if I see a child struggling like he did. Thank you Rex for sharing your stories.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 09-09-24
If you work with children you MUST listen to this book.
This follow up to free lunch gives you a 1st person view into the real lives that children live everyday. It isn't every life but even child living in abuse, shame, guilt, poverty, etc. deserves us to understand what life is like for them. This book can help us be more understanding and compassionate. My soul and my heart were moved by this book. I was a version of Rex in my childhood. We need more people to see us.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Lys-An Greene
- 04-06-24
I lived how he really explained his life
the only think that I didn't think was amazing was maybe the cuss words
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- brian
- 02-25-22
Another brilliant memoir
Rex and Ramon both do it again. This one is darker then his last one, but, I don't mind that. With a title like Punching Bag, I was expecting domestic violence to be part of the storyline. Another amazing performance by Ramon.
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