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Cheever

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In a letter to his readers, John Hart talks about becoming a writer and the challenges he faced in writing The Last Child.
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A conversation with Adam Haslett, author of Union Atlantic, a deeply affecting portrait of the modern gilded age, the first decade of the twenty-first century.
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   Summary and Book Reviews

Loser: Summary and book reviews of Loser by Jerry Spinelli, plus links to an excerpt from Loser and a biography of Jerry Spinelli.

Loser Loser
by Jerry Spinelli
Hardcover: May 2002,
224 pages.
Paperback: Aug 2003,
224 pages.

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Critics' Opinion:   good
Readers' Rating:  Four Stars
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Book Summary
award image A BookBrowse Favorite Book

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."

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Very Good BookBrowse
A wonderful, thoughtful book. "Popular" teens who believe being part of the group means excluding others may not appreciate Loser, but if they can bring themselves to read it they might find an appreciation for those lesser mortals who aren't part of the 1st division cliques but are sometimes better people because of this. Particularly recommended for those who've enjoyed other works by Spinelli such as Stargirl.



Good  Publishers Weekly
Spinelli (Maniac Magee; Stargirl) here enters the consciousness of the social pariah ... he creates no idealistic ending here; instead, with a near tragedy, the author demonstrates the differences between those who can continue to see with the more compassionate little-kid eyes and those who lose sight of what is truly important.

Good  Kirkus Reviews
[Spinelli] once again provides such a steady look at a marginalized child that readers will see past limiting social categories or awkward outsides to the complex mix of past, present, and promise at the core of every individual. A masterful character portrait; here's one loser who will win plenty of hearts.

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