Loser

by Jerry Spinelli and Spinelli

Book Overview

There are winners everywhere .... The sidewalks. The backyards. The alleyways. The playgrounds ...

Except for Zinkoff. Zinkoff never wins.

But Zinkoff doesn't notice. Neither do the other pups.

Not yet.

Zinkoff is like all kids -- running, playing, riding his bike. Hoping for snow days, wanting to be his dad when he grows up.

Zinkoff is not like the other kids -- raising his hand with all the wrong answers, tripping...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060001933
• ISBN13: 9780060001933
• Release Date: May 2002
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.5" x 8.3"
• Age Range: 8 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 7

Customer Reviews

Zinkoff's life

I really liked the book LOSER. Zinkoff has a lot of adventures and carries them away. Like when he was scared of a furnace monster and he stuck a sock in his mouth so his mom wouldn't here him screaming at the top of his lungs. I also liked that you make it sounds like Zinkoff is having a big fun adventure. With weird obstacles in his life. He is also weird and funny due to the fact that he stunk at everything but didn't even notice. He doesn't care if he has a friend or not he has much fun without a friend. He does many weird like throwing up normally, running down the streets yelling "Yahoo," and laughing at a word like "Japib." He is weird like when a bully takes his hate, he doesn't start crying and yelling to get back. He just acts like the bully is his friend and wants to look at his hat. In fourth grade he has a teacher who thinks the "Z" should be first. So instead of sitting in the back like he usually would. He sits right in the front row and is as happy as can be. In Zinkoff's field day it is all races. So he thinks it is just fun and losing doesn't matter. So when his team lost the last race. His team was so mad at him because he stunk and everyone calls him loser. When everyone calls Zinkoff a loser. He doesn't mind at all. So lets just say everyone thinks he is weird, he does weird things and he is a loser. But his parents point of view is completely different. They think he is fine at school and isn't a loser. But when they asked "How did field day go." He just says "I'm a loser." and starts crying. That is when his parents find out. But everyday he comes home as happy as can be. So they think nothing is wrong . Which there isn't so it doesn't matter. He doesn't care. Zinkoff gets picked last in all sports. But he doesn't mind. I am just trying to say I really liked this book. Because I think Jerry Spinelli is a good writer and just makes the story get better and better as you read. He makes the story have so many adventures and one thing Zinkoff does Jerry can just do anything to make it more interesting. That is why I rated this book a five-star book.

A glimpse into a dyspraxic world

Few people realize it, but Spinelli isn't just writing about a different kid. He's writing about a kid who suffers from a disability called dyspraxia. Dyspraxic children are clumsy, awkward, and so unco-ordinated that handwriting is Mission Impossible. Too enthusiastic at the wrong times? Caring? Unable to understand WHY other people make life so difficult? Yup, that's dyspraxia. I know. I suffer from it, and the boy at the centre of this book warmed my heart. Spinelli has perfectly captured the essence of how it feels to go from day to day not being able to do the most basic things, surrounded by other kids who can't understand why and tease you mercilessly for it.

Loser by Lauren

Do you have problems of people not picking you at a baseball game? Well Donald does. He doesn't have any friends and no one likes him, but he doesn't care. Nothing bothers him. People call him Zinkoff, because it's his last name. He's funny, nice, and brave. The book is about him doing different things like finding a best friend, trying to save a little girl, and spending time with his father. My favorite part in the book is when Zinkoff tries to save a girl named Claudia. This shows how loyal and brave he was. So if this book sounds good to you buy it or get it out of a library and read it!

Another winner...not loser

During the last 5 years of a 29 year career as a classroomteacher I began reading aloud to my middle school students.Shame on me! I should have begun on day one. Not only did mystudents love it (Southwest Detroit), but I learned that youngadult fiction can be as exciting and heartwarming as anythingwritten for an adult. My students loved Maniac Magee, Crash, and The Library Card by Spinelli. They begged me to read just one more chapter each day. Of course, they also loved when Ms. Kirsch got too teary-eyed and had to call on a student to read. I have been the librarian in our school for the past 3 yearsand always have a young adult novel alongside my other reads.Jerry Spinelli is my favorite. Wringer, Stargirl, and now Loserare among my all-time most special books. I forget the storylinesof many other books I have read, but never Jerry Spinelli's. Iam able to recount each character and the circumstances thatwere important in their lives. Loser is a very special book. Donald Zinkoff is an extra-ordinary character. His giraffe hat, his love for school, hisuncontrollable giggles, his belief that he runs so fast. Hewants to sit in that first seat in class, and yet his last namedooms him to the last seat in the last row. Until the 4th gradewhen his teacher seats him in the first row. Oh, how he lovesthat teacher. Yahoo! Zinkoff reminds me of no other student I have ever encountered. Maybe by the time they get to sixth grade, theyhave had that exhuberance knocked out of them. Maybe that iswhy I cried so hard while reading this book. While Donald becomes a hero in our mind while searching forthe girl on a leash in a snowstorm, Spinelli doesn't rally theclassmates in a stunning salute. He eases us out, and I guesswe know that things are going to be all right for Zinkoff.

Loser is not

I have just read Loser and I am still in awe of Spinelli as an author for children who may not be avid readers. He uses the language of his readers and they are able to relate with his characters so well. In Loser he has created a lovable character named Zinkoff who is an eager and enthusiastic boy who tries to see the positive side of life. Spinelli has made us all see that there is a loser in all of us. It is so important for children to see that failure is a very important part of life if we can learn from it. I will be using Loser this year in all my presentations as a storyreader for children from Fourth through Sixth grade. Thank you Jerry, Loser is another winner!!