Cover of Loser
“Loser” by Jerry Spinelli
Genre: Young Adult, Fiction
Source: Library
Summary from Goodreads:
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 over his own feet, falling down with laughter over a word like “Jabip.” The kids have their own word to describe him, but Zinkoff is too busy to hear it.
Once again, Newbery Medal-winning author Jerry Spinelli uses great wit and humor to create the unique story of Zinkoff as he travels from first through sixth grades. Loser is a touching book about the human spirit, the importance of failure, and how any name can someday be replaced with “hero.”
Ahhh much better. As you might know I wasn’t too impress with the last Jerry Spinelli book I read. It wasn’t bad but it didn’t wow me either. I was able to enjoy Loser much more.
Zinkoff is a kid we all knew in school. He’s a little weird, didn’t do that well in school, wasn’t good in sports, and didn’t really have any friends. At the beginning of the book, no one really cared because that’s all normal behavior for a 6 year old but as he grew up, the other kids started noticing his differences.
I loved Zinkoff for not caring about what others thought of him and continuing to do his thing. I think I liked him because I saw a bit of myself in him. Yeah, I was a ‘loser’ in school. Unlike Zinkoff, I was always hurt when I was picked last for gym even though I knew I was terrible but that’s enough about me.
This is definitely a book that more people can relate to. We’ve all been losers in some aspects in our lives but we need to be more like Zinkoff and not let it bother us.
Zinkoff’s ‘hero’ moment was wonderful. I can’t imagine many 6th graders being that determined.
Overall, I loved this book and recommend it to you.
Rating
4/5
The Cheap Reader 
good review.. I was also kind of “Loose” in school time.. Really want to read “Looser” to “Hero” path of Zinkoff…
I loved that book! Would you mind if I reviewed it also?
I don’t know you mean but if you post a review of the book on your blog, comment here again with the link to your post. I’d be happy to add it to my review.
Okay lol