Donald is the eternal optimist - a delight. He thinks when they don't pick him for their team, oh well, maybe tomorrow. He thinks when they cheer and jeer him, that they like him. But Donald is blissfully unaware of this. His classmates think he is bonkers, a bit of a problem, a loser.

It sometimes gives people the wrong impression. It sometimes gets him into trouble at school. His happiness leads to laughter - loud laughter. Donald's main problem is his happiness his enthusiasm - particularly for school where he arrives early every day. Though, having a name beginning with Z does cause him lots of problems, not least making him last to be called for everything. Loser is unique, a one-off, a touching and powerful book about the pull of individuality over the need to fit in.ĭonald Zinkoff has a problem. And Spinelli has the courage to stick to his point right to the end - no losers or winners, no heroes or villains, no happy endings or sad ones, just children, and their confusing ability occasionally to connect.From the author of STARGIRL, a powerful novel of a young boy who is like all kids, yet unlike all kids. And therein lies Spinelli's unusual point - not that losers are really winners, or I'm ok, you're ok, but that the measuring sticks we chose may not be the only ones there are.

There's a moment when it might, but it's not something a Zinkoff, or a real child, can pull off. And we all know the formula - eventually there will be some great dramatic event, the hero will have his moment to shine, and everyone will realize that he's not a loser at all. This type of story, of course, has been done often before, though rarely with Spinelli's wit and craft. And his one real talent, a sunny disposition, keeps his life from seeming cruel when he's not picked for teams, when he's ridiculed and taunted, when he, in short, loses, again and again. Zinkoff's (no one calls him Donald except his teachers) mistakes and quirks are endearing, since we're seeing them from the inside. Jerry Spinelli gives his readers a careful, at times humorous, portrait of a kid who is only special to his family, and scatters penetrating insights into growing up along the way. Yet it's moving, funny, lyrical, and has powerful appeal for both children and adults. Few writers could pull this off - a book with no villains, no heroes, and little real conflict, which is basically a child development text turned into a novel.

Loser by Jerry Spinelli