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Loser
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Read Loser

Loser (2002) (edit title/settings)

by Jerry Spinelli (Author) (edit contributors)

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Description edit see section history

Donald Zinkoff is an unusual boy who doesn't have many friends. He is a "Loser" according to his classmate until Zinkoff turns into a hero...

Summary edit see section history

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,... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

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.

(Source: Amazon)

Characters/People edit see section history

  • Donald Zinkoff: The main character of this book. People in his class call him by his last name, "Zinkoff".
  • Mrs. Shankfelder: One of Zinkoff's teachers
  • Polly: Zinkoff's little sister.
  • Claudia: A little girl on a leash who becomes a dear friend of Donald's. She runs away and causes Donald's heroic search
  • Hector Binns: Zinkoff's "friend".
  • Andrew Orwell: Zinkoff's friend and neighbor in second grade.
  • Gary Hobin: The fastest kid in the grade. He won't allow Zinkoff to be on his team two years in a row and jeopardize his chance of winning.
  • Mrs. Biswell: the teacher who is never happy and supposedly doesn't like children. Zinkoff causes her distress.
  • Claudia: a little girl on a leash who becomes a dear friend of Donald's. She runs away and causes Donald's heroic search
  • Bonce: Add a description of this character.
  • Mr. Yalowitz: Zinkoff's favorite teacher. He teaches fourth grade. He lets 'Z' be first and Zinkoff gets to sit in the front for the first time.
  • Miss Meeks: Zinkoff's first grade teacher.
  • Cherise
  • Stanley
Show all 14 characters
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Quotes edit see section history

  • “"My handwriting is atrocious!" he announces to his parents at the dinner table that day. His father, seeing how proud his son is, replies, "One thousand congratulations." His mother gives him a star. pg. 54”
    narrator
  • “"But new eyes arrive nevertheless. Big-kid eyes replace little-kid eyes. Little kid eyes are scoopers. They just scoop up everything they see and swallow it whole, no questions asked. Big-kid eyes are picky." p. 99”
    narrator
  • “"He knows that he could lose a thousand races and his dad would never give up on him. He knows that if he ever springs a leak or throws a gasket, his dad will be there with duct tape and chewing gum to patch him up, that no matter how much he rattles and knocks, he'll always be a honeybug to his dad, never a clunker." pg. 108”
    narrator
  • “"It's just a cellar, it's just a cellar." pg. 87”
    Zinkoff
  • “It never occurs to Zinkoff that all the fuss is more than a simple A can account for. It never occurs to him that the loudest and showiest of his congratulators are really not congratulating him at all, but mocking him for blundering into the only A he is ever likely to get. pg. 135”
    narrator
  • Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers
  • time by itself is nothing, is emptiness, and that a person is not made for emptiness.
    Highlighted by 33 Kindle customers
  • As with all discoveries, it is the eye and not the object that changes.
    Highlighted by 32 Kindle customers
  • He knows that he could lose a thousand races and his father will never give up on him. He knows that if he ever springs a leak or throws a gasket, his dad will be there with duct tape and chewing gum to patch him up, that no matter how much he rattles and knocks, he’ll always be a honeybug to his dad, never a clunker.
    Highlighted by 26 Kindle customers
  • Best friends are always together, always whispering and laughing and running, always at each other’s house, having dinner, sleeping over. They are practically adopted by each other’s parents. You can’t pry them apart.
    Highlighted by 23 Kindle customers
  • But Zinkoff doesn’t notice. Neither do the other pups. Not yet.
    Highlighted by 18 Kindle customers
  • They forget, never to remember again, that they are pups from the same litter. And they discover something: They like winning more than losing. They love winning. They love winning so much that they find new ways to do it:
    Highlighted by 15 Kindle customers
  • One is a baby sister, the other is a neighbor. The baby sister is Polly. The neighbor is Andrew.
    Highlighted by 15 Kindle customers
  • “Loser.” “Loser.” “Loser.” “Loser.” “Loser.”
    Highlighted by 13 Kindle customers
  • Around fourth grade something similar happens with eyes. The baby eyes don’t drop out, nor are there eye fairies around to leave quarters under pillows, but new eyes do arrive nevertheless. Big-kid eyes replace little-kid eyes. Little-kid eyes are scoopers. They just scoop up everything they see and swallow it whole, no questions asked. Big-kid eyes are picky. They notice things that the little-kid eyes never bothered with: the way a teacher blows her nose, the way a kid dresses or pronounces a word.
    Highlighted by 11 Kindle customers
  • atwitter. “Donald,” he
    Highlighted by 5 Kindle customers
Show all 15 quotes from this book

Setting & Locations edit see section history

First Sentence edit see section history

You grow up with a kid but you never really notice him.

Themes & Symbolism edit see section history

  • Heroism: The main character desire to be a "hero".

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Jerry Spinelli (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Harper Collins
Country: USA
Publication Date: 2002
ISBN: 0060540745
Page Count: 218

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Reading Level: Ages 9-12

Main character endures cruel treatment from classmates.

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

More Books Like This edit see section history

   
  • Taking Sides
  • The Report Card
  • The Penderwicks
  • Bud, Not Buddy
  • Drums, Girls, & Dangerous Pie
  • Diary of a Wimpy Kid
  • Dog Days
  • The Misfits

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