Rex Ogle is one of my favorite authors, so Absent was already an automatic must-read for me. I’ve read and loved his entire Free Lunch series, Four Eyes, and When We Ride. And as a former chronic school skipper myself, the topic – school absenteeism – is one that’s near and dear to me.
I also had the pleasure of seeing Ogle speak at the North Texas Teen Book Festival this past March, where he was super-engaging, funny, and humble. Needless to say, I am excited about this one! It will be easy to booktalk and is a great candidate for state reading lists for middle school.
Absent has been added to my September 2026 – New Release Spotlight list on Amazon.
Author: Rex Ogle
Illustrator: L.J. Baptiste
Genre: realistic fiction, mixed media, graphic fiction, novel-in-verse
Setting: contemporary middle school and surrounding community; economically-depressed area
Themes: school stories, middle school, school attendance, skipping school, bullying, poverty, unique formats, teachers, school librarians, mixed media, incarcerated parent, fathers and sons, family problems, parentification of oldest sibling, panic attacks, school detention, school absenteeism, reluctant readers, alternating perspectives
Protagonist: perspectives alternate among three middle school boys, all of whom skip school for different reasons; one is Mexican American, one is Black, one is white
Recommended for: Grades 5-8
Starred reviews: Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, and SLJ
Publication date: September 1, 2026
WHAT IT’S ABOUT
Absent follows three middle school boys who are missing too much school—but for very different reasons.
Thirteen-year-old Manny Fueyo would rather skateboard and write rap lyrics than sit in class. His father is incarcerated, and Manny, who lives with his Mexican American grandparents, has largely checked out of school.
Calvin Johnson Jr., an aspiring artist, misses class because his single father works long hours, leaving Calvin responsible for his younger brothers.
Honors student Liam Miller actually loves learning, but relentless bullying and resulting panic attacks have him hiding in a library storage closet instead of attending class.
When their habitual absences land all three boys in detention, they slowly discover that despite their differences, they have far more in common than they realized.
AN ENGAGING FORMAT FOR RELUCTANT READERS
One of the most interesting aspects of Absent is its mixed-media format. Each boy tells his story differently: Manny through poetry and rap lyrics, Calvin through comics and illustrations, and Liam through prose journal entries. This makes Absent an especially great choice for reluctant and striving readers, but the starred reviews emphasize that the accessible format doesn’t sacrifice depth or character development.
FIRST CHAPTER FRIDAYS AND THE AUDIOBOOK
This is an excellent choice for First Chapter Fridays for middle school, but I don’t recommend the teacher read it aloud. The first few pages are in the voice of Manny, a Mexican American boy who writes rap-style lyrics. You’re going to have to be VERY comfortable reading that format aloud.
Instead, play the first 5 minutes of the audiobook (look under the book cover image for “Preview Audio”). One of the three narrators is Ramón de Ocampo, who narrates lots of YA and middle grade audiobooks, including Ogle’s Free Lunch series, several Diary of a Wimpy Kid titles, and books by Randy Ribay, Gordon Korman, Tommy Greenwald, Stuart Gibbs, Patricia McCormick, and many, many more. De Ocampo also recently won AudioFile Magazine’s Golden Voice Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020, as well as an Audie Award in 2018 for Restart by Gordon Korman.
“I HATE SCHOOL”
I also think the premise will resonate with plenty of middle schoolers who have ever thought, “I hate school” or wondered why they need to be there every day. I certainly did. By high school, I realized I could miss quite a bit of school and still make good grades—and skipping quickly became a habit. Looking back, I probably needed a more challenging environment and a less-structured school day.
That’s what makes Absent especially compelling: it looks beyond the absences themselves to ask why kids aren’t in class. For this reason, I’d also recommend it for teachers.
With starred reviews from Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, and School Library Journal, Absent looks like another outstanding Rex Ogle novel—and an easy addition to middle school library collections.
MORE FOR RELUCTANT READERS
