Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of bullying.

“Sometimes you have to let go of logic and think with your heart.”

When Rex’s mother overhears him telling his brother that they’re only half-brothers, she tries to explain that the way a person feels about their family is more important than any technical or biological formalities. Rex struggles to appreciate his family, thematically alluding to Accepting One’s Family, because he feels as though he doesn’t get what other people have, and this feeling of deprivation projects onto his younger brother.

“Are you poor or something? Hah!”

Rex Ogle’s award-winning memoir, Free Lunch, chronicles his experiences of having to go on the free lunch program at school and the shame he felt until he adjusted his perception and felt grateful instead. This small inclusion of that experience refers to that memoir. It’s also an instance of foreshadowing, because Rex is soon bullied for weeks because of his cheap-looking glasses. All of this is part of Rex learning to let go of what others think, which thematically exemplifies Rising Above Negative Judgment.

“I saw the solar eclipse! I didn’t have special glasses or anything, so I just looked straight at it. It was pretty cool.”

On the first day of school, Rex announces that he stared directly at the sun over the summer. Ironically, this is not the source of his vision issues, but it nevertheless acts as a form of