Loser by Jerry Spinelli
Audience: Elementary and up
Rating: B-
Synopsis:
Donald Zinkoff is not the typical kid. He loves school, but he’s not that good at it. He wants to be a mailman so that he can deliver mail in sleet and snow. He giggles a bit too much, has a lucky piece of bubble gum, and throws up and burps a lot. But Zinkoff doesn’t realize that he’s different until the other students start to treat him differently. This book is an interesting look at the relationships within elementary school classrooms and what it means to not fit in.
Chatter:
(Spoiler Alerts! ) Loser seemed very much like a male version of Stargirl by the same author. This book, however, isn’t nearly as interesting. Zinkoff is not as likeable a character as Stargirl; he’s much more self-absorbed, while Stargirl was completely altruistic. Part of this difference can be attributed to their difference in ages; Stargirl was in high school while we spend time with Zinkoff only until the sixth grade. Part of it also is that Zinkoff lives in his own world, rarely noticing what others do and think unless it directly impacts him.
It is because Zinkoff is so oblivious that he doesn’t realize when the students are calling him a loser, or when he is the last picked to play sports. He doesn’t realize that he doesn’t have friends until he’s taking a test in school one day and is asked to fill in the name of his best friend. Zinkoff’s solution to this question is to look around the classroom and write in the name of another kid who he believed was also best friendless. That’s how simple things are in Zinkoff’s world, if he believes that he’s a fast runner then the fact that he’s really slow doesn’t matter.
I wish there were more to the ending of this book. I would like to know if Zinkoff is ever truly accepted by his peers and what happens to him in the upper grades. Zinkoff’s such an unusual narrator that it would be interesting to see what he becomes.
Questions:
Why do you believe Spinelli wrote Loser?
What do you think will happen to Zinkoff in the future?
Keep reading!
-Paige
Goldilocks Says:
I think Jerry Spinelli wrote Loser because most of the time, kids who are different get picked on and bullied. Just like how the older kids took away Zinkoff’s giraffe hat. He might be trying to say that people like Zinkoff are great people once you get to know him/her.
I think that in the future, Zinkoff will be successful. Maybe people will like him because he is different. He is a special boy, and he seems fun to be around. He’s definitely not shy either! He showed people his scar on his stomach from his surgery!
karli Says:
what is the end of the book loser