Loser

Loser
by Jerry Spinelli

Loser
List Price: $5.99
Our Price: $1.85
You Save: $4.14 (69%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.97 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


(Click here)
Buy this book at online book store in your country
Canada | UK | Germany | France

Book Summary Information

Author: Jerry Spinelli
Edition: Paperback
Published: 2003-08-01
ISBN: 0060540745
Number of pages: 224
Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Publisher: HarperTrophy

Book Reviews of Loser

Book Review: Create Your Own Review
Summary: 4 Stars

Jentz 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. So when Donald was found everyone loved him because he was looking for a girl that had already been found. From then on everyone started calling Donald, Zinkoff, and they loved him again.

Summary of Loser

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


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."

Health, Mind & Body Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Junkies, Pushers, Thieves, Stoners and Losers
The Tunnel: Drug Dealers Are Missing in Boston. It's Not a Bad Thing, but a Good Thing! but What Is Making Them Disappear ImageThe Tunnel: Drug Dealers Are Missing in Boston. It's Not a Bad Thing, but a Good Thing! but What Is Making Them Disappear
by Peter Mars
Authorhouse; Published: 1998-12; Paperback; Book
Price in other shops: $17.15
Robbing Drug Dealers: Violence Beyond the Law (New Lines in Criminology) (New Lines in Criminology) ImageRobbing Drug Dealers: Violence Beyond the Law (New Lines in Criminology) (New Lines in Criminology)
by Bruce Jacobs
Aldine Transaction; Published: 2000-11-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $24.94
Price in other shops: $24.95
Drug Dealer, Parts 1&2 (Collector's Edition) (Drug Dealer the Collector's Edition) ImageDrug Dealer, Parts 1&2 (Collector's Edition) (Drug Dealer the Collector's Edition)
by Isadore Johnson
Urb-lennium Publishing L.L.C.; Published: 2006-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $26.10
Powder Wars: The Supergrass Who Brought Down Britain's Biggest Drug Dealers ImagePowder Wars: The Supergrass Who Brought Down Britain's Biggest Drug Dealers
by Graham Johnson
Mainstream Publishing; Published: 2005-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.51
Price in other shops: $16.99
Drug Smuggling: The Forbidden Book ImageDrug Smuggling: The Forbidden Book
by K. Hawkeye Gross
Paladin Press; Published: 1992-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.03
Price in other shops: $20.00
The Losers Club: Complete Restored Edition! ImageThe Losers Club: Complete Restored Edition!
by Richard Perez
Ludlow Press; Published: 2005-05-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.39
Price in other shops: $13.95
The Losers (Vol. 5): Endgame ImageThe Losers (Vol. 5): Endgame
by Andy Diggle
Vertigo; Published: 2006-09-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.91
Price in other shops: $14.99
Loser ImageLoser
by Jerry Spinelli
HarperTrophy; Published: 2003-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.37
Price in other shops: $5.99
BADASS HORROR ImageBADASS HORROR
by Gerard Brennan, Garry Kilworth, Michael Hemmingson, Ronald Damien Malfi, Gord Rollo, Davin Ireland, Michael Boatman
Dybbuk Press, LLC; Published: 2006-02-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.20
Price in other shops: $12.75
Super Badass ImageSuper Badass
MUSIC VIDEO DIST; DVD
Best price: $0.59
Price in other shops: $5.99
Similar Books and other products
Eggs ImageEggs
by Jerry Spinelli
Little, Brown Young Readers; Published: 2008-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.59
Price in other shops: $5.99
Love, Stargirl ImageLove, Stargirl
by Jerry Spinelli
Knopf Books for Young Readers; Published: 2007-08-14; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $6.25
Price in other shops: $16.99
Bud, Not Buddy ImageBud, Not Buddy
by Christopher Paul Curtis
Laurel Leaf; Published: 2004-09-14; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.90
Price in other shops: $6.50
Wringer ImageWringer
by Jerry Spinelli
HarperTeen; Published: 2004-09-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.00
Price in other shops: $6.99
Who Put That Hair in My Toothbrush? ImageWho Put That Hair in My Toothbrush?
by Jerry Spinelli
Little, Brown Young Readers; Published: 2000-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.99
Price in other shops: $6.99
Who Ran My Underwear Up The Flagpole (School Daze Series) ImageWho Ran My Underwear Up The Flagpole (School Daze Series)
by Jerry Spinelli
Scholastic Paperbacks; Published: 1992-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.72
Price in other shops: $4.99
Report To The Principal's Office! (School Daze Series) ImageReport To The Principal's Office! (School Daze Series)
by Jerry Spinelli
Scholastic Paperbacks; Published: 1992-10-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.00
Price in other shops: $4.99
Crash ImageCrash
by Jerry Spinelli
Laurel Leaf; Published: 2004-05-11; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.46
Price in other shops: $6.50
Stargirl (Readers Circle) ImageStargirl (Readers Circle)
by Jerry Spinelli
Laurel Leaf; Published: 2004-05-11; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.65
Price in other shops: $6.99
Maniac Magee ImageManiac Magee
by Jerry Spinelli
INGRAM BOOK & DISTRIBUTOR; Little, Brown Young Readers; Published: 1999-11-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.95
Price in other shops: $6.99
Book store. Illustrated catalog of books on different categories