description: 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
language: English
title: Loser
titlecomplete: Loser
genres: Middle Grade, Young Adult, Childrens, School, Chapter Books, Coming Of Age, Fiction, Juvenile, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction
ratings_count: 20533
awards: awardedAt: 1072944000000
name: Vermont Golden Dome Book Award, awardedAt: 1104566400000
name: Charlie May Simon Children's Book Award, awardedAt: 1041408000000
name: Judy Lopez Memorial Award for Children's Literature, awardedAt: 1104566400000
name: William Allen White Children's Book Award, awardedAt: 1104566400000
name: Washington State Sasquatch Award
publisher: Scholastic