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Books : LoserIn association with Amazon.comby: Jerry Spinelli  Amazon.com's Price: $5.99 Prices subject to change.Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Binding: PaperbackEAN: 9780060540746 ISBN: 0060540745 Label: HarperCollins Manufacturer: HarperCollins Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 224 Publication Date: August 01, 2003 Publisher: HarperCollins Reading Level: Ages 9-12 Release Date: July 29, 2003 Studio: HarperCollins Sales Rank: 16500 Related Items:
Editorial Review: Product Description: Just like other kids, Zinkoff rides his bike, hopes for snow days, and wants to be like his dad when he grows up. But Zinkoff also raises his hand with all the wrong answers, trips over his own feet, and falls down with laughter over a word like "Jabip." Other kids have their own word to describe him, but Zinkoff is too busy to hear it. He doesn't know he's not like everyone else. And one winter night, Zinkoff's differences show that any name can someday become "hero." Amazon.com Review: Donald Zinkoff is one of the greatest kids you could ever hope to meet. He laughs easily, he likes people, he loves school, he tries to rescue lost girls in blizzards, he talks to old ladies. The only problem is, he's a loser. Until fourth grade, Zinkoff's uncontrollable giggling in class, sloppy handwriting, horrible flute playing, bad grades, clumsiness, and ineptitude at sports go largely unnoticed. When he blows a race for his team, however, his transition to loserdom is complete: "[Loser] is the word. It is Zinkoff's new name. It is not in the roll book." Fortunately, he doesn't really notice. As he did in Stargirl, Newbery Medal-winning author Jerry Spinelli again explores the cruelty of a student body and how it does and doesn't affect one student, pure of spirit. Presumably if Loser makes one child view a "different kid" as a three-dimensional character, Spinelli will consider his book successful. The author recounts Zinkoff's story--a case study of sorts--in short sentences from a deliberately reportorial point of view, documenting the first years of the boy's life and his evolution into a loser. What makes the book charming and buoyant is that the reader, like Zinkoff's parents and his favorite teacher, appreciates the boy's oblivious joie de vivre and his divine quirks. What is less compelling about the novel is the "let this be a lesson to us" heavy-handedness that accompanies the reportorial approach. Still, Spinelli comes through again with a lively, often moving story with humor and heart to spare. (Ages 8 to 12) --Karin Snelson Average Rating:
 Rating: - Missing: Overarching PlotWhile I absolutely LOVE (and always have) the beginning of the book, even the middle, detailing all of Zinkoff's various childish misadventures, I've always failed to understand how that's all resolved in the end. Perhaps 'resolved' is the wrong word, after all, we wouldn't all want our favorite Loser to turn into someone else entirely. More accurately, then, it just didn't feel like an ending. Then again, what would an appropriate ending have been, right? Zinkoff's fully comfortable with his ... Read More Rating: - Create Your Own ReviewJentz Z. review of Loser by Jerry Spinelli, March 19, 2008. Donald Zinkoff is a kid who never fit in. Growing up for him was hard, he was teased and bullied. He grew up in the suburbs all his life. Donald has an internal conflict. Ever sense fifth grade he had the nickname loser. The only people he ever connected with were his dad and a girl named Claudia. Near the end of the book Claudia was lost and found shortly after but Donald didn't know and spent hours and hours looking for her. ... Read More Rating: - KCS- class loser.Have you ever felt as if you were the loser of your class? Everyone in his class thinks of Donald Zinkoff is the loser of there class, but Donald is oblivious to the names he is called. Donald Zinkoff is clumsy,awkward,asks too many questions,laughs too much,and not quite the same as the others in his class. The story takes place in a town from when Donald is in first grade until he is in fifth grade Its the first day of first grade and Donald loves it. He loves school in general. Everyday ... Read More Rating:  - Cornwall Middle SchoolI liked this book called Loser. It was about this kid that never really fit in, and threw out his life from when he was a baby to 6th grade. The characters seemed a little more realistic then the other books i have read. I liked the plot, but i thought they could of done a better job with were it took place and a couple other things. I thought there were some parts that I couldnt wait to find out what happened next. I would recomended this book to anyone that likes funny, good books. I enjoyed reading this ... Read More Rating: - a must read for anyone who is, was, or will be a childJerry Spinelli is probably the greatest young adult novelist (yes, novelist) for a very good reason. Not only are his books incredibly human and powerful, capturing those illusive essential truths of childhood and adolescence, but they are written in an incredible (yet accessible) modernist, lyrical, and, well--beautiful--prose that captures all the emotions, wonders, and confusions of childhood. His stories seem familiar, and yet they never fall into the trappings of predictability or neatly convenient packaging. ... Read More Browse for similar items by category:
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