A01=Rex Ogle
A12=LJ-Baptiste
absenteeism
anxiety
Author_LJ-Baptiste
Author_Rex Ogle
bullying
Category=XA
Category=YFMF
Category=YFS
Category=YFV
Category=YXHB
detention
education
eq_bestseller
eq_childrens
eq_fiction
eq_graphic-novels-manga
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_personal-social-topics
eq_teenage-young-adult
forthcoming
friendship
poverty
rap
school
truancy
Product details
- ISBN 9781324124894
- Dimensions: 140 x 210mm
- Publication Date: 01 Sep 2026
- Publisher: WW Norton & Co
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
Secure
checkout
Fast Shipping
Easy returns
With a dad in jail and a lack of teachers interested in helping him learn, Manny doesn’t see the point in anything besides skateboarding and writing lyrics. Calvin has so many responsibilities to his father and little brothers that when his bike is stolen, he can’t make it to school on time. And while Liam is studious and wants to become a doctor, he is tormented by bullies and hides out in an unused janitor’s closet instead of going to class.
When the boys are thrown together in detention, they realise that they might still have a lot to learn–not just from their teachers but from each other. Absent tells the boys’ stories in three distinct voices: Manny’s in verse, Calvin’s as a comic and Liam’s as a prose journal. Rex Ogle explores school absenteeism in a compelling, entertaining and utterly distinct novel.
Rex Ogle is the award-winning author of Free Lunch, Punching Bag, Abuela, Don’t Forget Me, Road Home, and, most recently, When We Ride. He lives in Los Angeles, California. LJ-Baptiste is a Boston-based art educator and cartoonist.
