Punching Bag

Written by Rex Ogle

Narrated by Ramon de Ocampo

This is a true story.
This is my story.
It happened to me.
I survived.

Punching Bag is the compelling story of a young adulthood punctuated by domestic abuse. Rex Ogle, who brilliantly mapped his experience of poverty and hunger in Free Lunch, here charts his struggle to survive a brutal and unpredictable cycle of violence between and at the hands of his
mother and stepfather, and to understand the history and situation of his damaged family.

Hovering over Rex’s story is the talismanic presence of his unborn baby sister, herself a victim of these circumstances.

Compulsively readable, beautifully crafted, and authentically told, Punching Bag is a heartbreaking memoir of trauma with a powerful and abiding message—a story of one teenager’s experience of violence, blame, and forgiveness, and a universal story of hope and survival.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Nov 16, 2021
• ISBN: 9781705046654

Rex Ogle

Rex Ogle has had lots of jobs. Some involved waiting tables, moving boxes, or cleaning toilets. Other jobs involved creating stories for Star Wars, LEGO, Power Rangers, Minions, DC Comics, and Marvel Comics. Now Rex is a full-time writer and the authorbehind Free Lunch, winner of the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction. And he’s written the first book in The Supernatural Society series. Why? Because, while it was fun to clean toilets, it is much more fun to write about monsters.

Reviews for Punching Bag

[skstiles612 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

If you thought the first book "Free Lunch" by Rex Ogle was hard to read, wait until you read this. We get a glimpse into Rex's life in his first book.We see the poverty, shame, bullying he goes through in middle school. We see the issues he has with his father and mother. Nothing prepares you for the second book. In this book we see what it was like to live in a home filled with violence. What it is like to be the older sibling who practically raises the younger one. What it is like to protect the younger one from the violence that is so often taken out on the author. We see a side of mental illness that so many kids today deal with. Why is it that it is taboo to talk about these things?After reading Rex Ogle's first book I bought the second one to put on my shelves. I live in a district where this year a house bill is making it difficult to keep books on our shelves. I fear each day some kid will read this book, a parent will pick it up, complain to the school board and it will be banned. Why do I fear this? This book is open, honest and raw. Ogle doesn't sugar coat his experiences to make them less traumatizing. He wrote this in such an honest way you feel his pain. That he was able to overcome so much is amazing in itself. I know there are kids out there who live through abuse daily. This book with its darkness also shows a side of hope. It shows the reader that no matter where they are in life there is always hope. For me it is important to get this into the hands of children everywhere. It is important that there is a resource for those we may never know are hurting. This is a must read.

[jennybeast · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a hard story to read, and clearly a painful story to tell, but Rex Ogle does a brilliant job at it. Harsh, painful, horrifying memories, but also hope, strength, and the ability to move through struggle. There are so many complexities to Rex's relationships with his parental figures, and that shines through the almost constant abuse. I think the thing I found most most moving was the conversation that talked about how pain creates a bond -- even if you don't want that connection, even if you reject it.

Advanced Reader's copy provided by the publisher.

[salsabrarian · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The follow-up to the award-winning "Free Lunch." Rex is now a teenager (15 if I recall correctly). The physical and emotional abuse continues as do the violent fights between his mother and Sam. Older now, Rex is more willing to fight back with his words and express plans for escaping Sam. Tethering Rex to some kind of sanity throughout is the thought of the baby sister who never got born because of Sam and Luciana's violence--Rex imagines her voice of reason and compassion when he's feeling at his worst. This doesn't end on the same hopeful note that Free Lunch did; it's darker and more open-ended. You just think Rex will never escape this hell. An author's note and Q&A reveal his continued struggle with trauma but that he's in a much better place as an adult.