Author Rex Ogle takes readers into the lives of three boys. Calvin, late to school every day because he is the caretaker for his three younger brothers. Liam, constantly bullied but doesn't see a way to stop his tormentor. Manny, filling his notebook with rhymes and lyrics he hopes will someday make him famous.
All three boys are consistently late for school, each for his own reason. Their families are busy with work and their own responsibilities, so the absences fly under the radar. Liam counts on the librarian for support. She offers to talk to the bully, but Liam knows that won't help. Calvin relies on drawing to hold his life together. Unfortunately, his favorite class, art, is first period, so it is the class he constantly misses. Manny knows his Lito and Lita try hard, but he just doesn't see the point of school until his English teacher introduces him to poetry. When the trio of school skippers end up in three weeks of detention, they learn to work together to help support each other.
ABSENT is written in a variety of text structures that express the boys perfectly. This is one that needs to be in classrooms and libraries for all middle grade readers
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