Loser

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 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."

Editorial Reviews

In a finely measured performance, prolific screen actor Buscemi brings an appropriately understated emotional current to Spinelli's tale about Donald Zinkoff, a generally happy, spirited and clumsy boy known to his classmates and neighbor kids as the biggest loser around. Though he has no real friends, can't seem to do anything right and is often misunderstood or even disliked by his teachers, Zinkoff never loses his positive outlook on life. By creating such an unusually good-natured protagonist, Spinelli can show the ugly, cruel behavior of other children without making Zinkoff into a pathetic victim. This tack may well encourage listeners to consider how they treat their friends, classmates and teammates. In a great balancing act, Buscemi's reading perfectly matches the book's poignant theme while at the same time conveying the sense of fun and adventure with which Zinkoff views the world. From the start, listeners will want to know how things turn out. Ages 8-12.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. -- PUBLISHERS WEEKLY.

Author Information

Bio of Jerry Spinelli

Jerry Spinelli is one of the most gifted storytellers in contemporary children's literature. His books include the Newbery Medal winner Maniac Magee; Loser; Wringer, a Newbery Honor Book; Stargirl; and Knots in My Yo-Yo String, his autobiography. His novels are recognized for their humor and poignancy, and his characters and situations are often drawn from his real-life experience as a father of six children. Jerry lives with his wife, Eileen, also a writer, in Wayne, Pennsylvania. He is a graduate of Gettysburg College.

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Additional Info

Imprint

HarperCollins

Filesize

410.11 KB

Number of Pages

224

eBook ISBN

9780061659034

Awards

• Arizona Young Reader's Award
• Bluegrass Award
• Charlie May Simon Children's Book Award
• Colorado Children's Book Award
• Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award
• Garden State Children's Book Awards
• Georgia Children's Book Award
• Golden Sower Award
• Great Lakes' Great Books Award
• Great Stone Face Children's Book Award
• Judy Lopez Memorial Award (Women's National Book Association, Los Angeles Chapter)
• Land of Enchantment Book Award
• Maine Student Book Award
• Mark Twain Award
• Maryland Children's Book Award
• Massachusetts Children's Book Award
• Nutmeg Children's Book Award
• Sasquatch Reading Award
• Sequoyah Book Award
• Virginia Reader's Choice Awards
• William Allen White Children's Book Award
• Wyoming Indian Paintbrush Book Award