"Loser" - Jerry Spinelli (2002)

I play in a band called Loser, so when I saw this at a local bookstore it caught my attention. Being a children/teen book, it was only 120 or so pages, and my first thought, "Why would you read a kid's book?" was overridden by a second, "How long could it take?" So I sat down one rainy afternoon and read it, enjoying page after page of Mr. Spinelli's simple yet poignant writing.

Loser is a short novel about Donald Zinkoff, a strange boy who just never fits in, beginning in kindergarten and continuing through middle school. Anyone reading this blog would probably identify with him. A combination of his behaviors and character traits led me to believe that his character may have suffered from a form of Autism, but that aside, he tries for eight years to make friends, having a blast the entire time, never realizing that most of his peers don't like him. He rarely understands that he is being made fun of. A lot of inspiration lies in the ways he responds to negative situations, though - he never gets angry, he never loses his temper. He simply glides through life in a way that I wish I could. Donald bumbles and stumbles through the first 80 pages, embarrassing himself and others, but when a crisis comes, he spends the remainder of the book proving himself an absolute hero with no regard for himself.

This book is absolutely worth the time and modicum of money that it requires to enjoy. Jerry Spinelli has written many children/teen books, some bearing titles such as Who Ran My Underwear Up The Flag Pole? and Tooter Pepperday, but this one, I believe to be one of his most mature works, because it speaks both to the level of a grade school kid and to an adult, like the Looney Toons episodes that contain adult references that kids don't understand while still enjoying the show. Loser sticks out in a weird way, just like Donald Zinkoff did, and ends with its head held high, just like Donald Zinkoff did.

Favorite Quote: "As with all discoveries, it is the eye and not the object that changes."

Rating: 4 out of 5 patches

Buy: BAM! /// Kindle /// Your local bookstore!

-Brian