9780061628733
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Loser audiobook

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Loser Audiobook Summary

From renowned Newbery-winning author Jerry Spinelli comes a powerful story about how not fitting in just might lead to an incredible life. This classic book is perfect for fans of Gordon Korman and Carl Hiaasen.

Just like other kids, Zinkoff rides his bike, hopes for snow days, and wants to be like his dad when he grows up. But Zinkoff also raises his hand with all the wrong answers, trips over his own feet, and falls down with laughter over a word like “Jabip.”

Other kids have their own word to describe him, but Zinkoff is too busy to hear it. He doesn’t know he’s not like everyone else. And one winter night, Zinkoff’s differences show that any name can someday become “hero.”

With some of his finest writing to date and great wit and humor, Jerry Spinelli creates a story about a boy’s individuality surpassing the need to fit in and the genuine importance of failure. As readers follow Zinkoff from first through sixth grade, it becomes impossible not to identify with and root for him through failures and triumphs. The perfect classroom read.

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Loser Audiobook Narrator

Steve Buscemi is the narrator of Loser audiobook that was written by Jerry Spinelli

Steve Buscemi was born in Brooklyn, NY. He has appeared in more than 50 films including Fargo, Reservoir Dogs, Living in Oblivion and The Impostors. He also wrote and directed the film Trees Lounge. On television, he has appeared on L.A. Law and Homicide: Life on the Street.

About the Author(s) of Loser

Jerry Spinelli is the author of Loser

Subjects

The publisher of the Loser is HarperCollins. includes the following subjects: The BISAC Subject Code is Juvenile Fiction, Self-Esteem & Self-Reliance, Social Issues

Additional info

The publisher of the Loser is HarperCollins. The imprint is HarperCollins. It is supplied by HarperCollins. The ISBN-13 is 9780061628733.

Global Availability

This book is only available in the United States.

Goodreads Reviews

Kirsten

February 06, 2008

This is just totally excellent and beautiful. Donald Zinkoff is a really special kid. He doesn't "get" other kids, really, but most of the time he has so much fun with his life that it doesn't really matter. He laughs so hard at words that he thinks are funny that he falls out of his chair and can't breathe. On the first day of every school year, he wants to know how many days of school are left until he graduates from highschool -- not because he can't wait to get out, but because he luxuriates in the notion of all that time. Spinelli introduces us to Zinkoff in such a way that the reader is completely won over, and then he gradually allows real life to intrude: Zinkoff is awesome, but to his classmates, he's a Loser.What's amazing about this book is that Spinelli allows Zinkoff to hang onto his individuality and the things that make him both awesome and a loser, but the book remains realistic. In the end, Zinkoff is a hero of a sort, but there's no scene where his classmates realize that they were wrong all along, or anything like that. No, he's still picked on. It's just that he's found a way to be ok with himself, and there's a glimmer of hope that not all the kids will always think of him as just Loser.

sal

August 28, 2008

With a name like LOSER, I really expected to hate this book and feel sorry for the main character throughout the entire story. The story is written with an omniscient narrator, and even though the plot could focus on the kids that teased Zinkoff, it focuses on Zinkoff's positive attitudes despite his peers, instead. My favorite chapter was about Zinkoff's day shadowing his father in his job as a mailman. He was so happy to get to deliver the mail... it was so cute!I'm reading this book with my advisory class. I want them to love it as much as I did.

Grace

November 25, 2018

/This book is all about bullying and having self-confidence in yourself. Have you ever get bully from other bullies or have you ever felt like you ar//e the bully? Well, if you want to know more about this READ THIS BOOK!!!

Manny

October 05, 2015

Loser Have you ever felt like you were a loser? The genre of "Loser" is realistic fiction because its made with fake characters but it could happen to somebody in real life. My opinion on the book is that its very good because I can relate to the book. Sometimes I can feel like a loser. So, I like it because I can relate to it. The setting of my book is school & grades in school I know this because the story takes place in school when he was in different grades during his life.The major events of the book where when he was growing and found out he was different from the other people in his school until he found somebody that was weird like him. Its person vs. person because Zinkoff tries to become friends with other people but they reject him because he's weird and different than everybody else. Weird is the theme because he is very different and weirder than everybody else. The title relates with the book "Loser" because Zinkoff the main character is supposedly a loser because he is different and has no friend do people consider him as a loser because in the text it says "He doesn't know he's not like everybody else"which makes him a loser. The major event of the story was when he finally realized he was not like everybody else so then he tried to change because he didn't have any friends because of his weirdness. I was surprised when he found a friend weird like him because I never thought he would find someone weird like him and that he would have a friend finally also surprised me.I liked the way the author described the Zinkoff because he said he was weird,different, and curious so he was described different from everybody else he knew. I would give this book a 4 because i enjoyed it but there were some parts I didn't like about the book.I would recommend this book to my classmates because its a good book even if I didn't like some parts of the book.Do you like loser book if you do this is the book for you

Tracy

May 21, 2019

I just finished reading this aloud to my 6th grade class. It is such a great book. Donald Zinkoff is a wonderful character. He is that kid who is clumsy and slow and who other kids just feel the need to pick on. But Zinkoff has the most amazing and loving heart. He won my students over and they empathized with him. Hopefully they are kinder because of him. I liked that the book did not tie everything up with a neat bow, that Donald did not win the game, save the day, or change the world. He is an optimistic, kind, loving soul who touches characters and readers alike, inspiring subtle shifts of perception. It is a really wonderful story that I recommend for all ages.

Ian

November 22, 2016

Heartwarming, just heartwarming.

Lotus ✧˚ · .

November 25, 2018

This book was okay.I didn't hate the book- but I didn't like it that much either. I definitely did not think reading it was boring- like a chore- but still, it wouldn't be something I would read in my free time. I feel like Zinkoff's life is relatable enough, but I find his life... I don't know... kind of- unrealistic. Zinkoff kind of reminds me of Nikki Maxwell from Dork Diaries in a way, except he's... a bit stranger and is bullied for often. Overall, this book was fine. It's probably something I would read if I was like that bored - since it's pretty short.

Erin

October 25, 2021

I read this one with my 10 year old son and we both really enjoyed it. He liked how the book followed Donald's life from 1st grade to middle school, and the (numerous) funny parts. I really liked the lovable, out of the box protagonist.

aindy!

November 23, 2018

The beginning was a little boring, but it started getting more intense as the book went on.

Kaideng

December 03, 2020

I would not recommend this book to people who like books in which the protagonist overcomes all odds and stand proud for their achievements because the main character in this novel doesn't really overcome his problems. It's his peers that gradually start to accept him as one of them, not a "nobody", as quoted by the book. The story is about Donald Zinkoff, a hyperactive 6-year old boy who is too excited to go to school. The book writes about his school experiences and the ways he annoyed others and also the ways he got disrespected. We can see as he grows from first grade to sixth grade, it's not him that's really changing. It's his surroundings and the attitudes directed toward him that are. One thing that I enjoyed about this book was how it portrayed the world through Zinkoff's perspective, which not a lot of people can see. Unlike other books, who choose a certain relatable character/figure (a black woman, a white boy, an Asian girl, etc.), the character Zinkoff is quite unpredictable and probably not one you would find in your life.

Phawe

November 30, 2018

** spoiler alert ** The book was okay but I didn't like it that much. The book was interesting at first, but after 5th grade graduation day, I started to lose interest. I also didn't know what was going on during when Claudia went missing and I couldn't imagine the scene in my head.

Erin

May 22, 2017

This book moved my heart. The story is so ... deep. Donald Zinkoff, this sweet as sugar little boy who is not the best at a lot of things is bullied. He is that one kid who is a straggler. He is brave and , despite what he can't do, this book makes you want to be him. You'll want to be the boy who has the best skill, love. If you read this book (which iI strongly recommend you do) I can promise he will make you laugh, cry, and think, WOW he has so much courage. This is a book I would read time and time again.

Anvita

April 09, 2015

I thought that the book was very well written and had me hooked from the start. The way Spinelli contrasted Zinkoff with the rest of the world: his thoughts vs their thoughts or his actions vs their actions was very interesting and already made me start to think about humans and the way we judge. The book really made me think about what we consider normal and how the minute something or someone is different, we can't accept that change in our relatively normal lives. It also made me think about innocence and how it fades over time because society pushes us to be a certain way and not ourselves. I think that the book really connected to me through these themes. One thing I didn't really understand was the way that the book was structured in terms of plot, because the main event that turned everything around for Zinkoff happened right at the very end of the book and I would have liked to have known what happened after, but otherwise I really liked the book.

Logan

February 26, 2016

Full Review at www.loganashleyleduc.comI read this book as required summer reading while going from 5th grade into 6th grade. That was 12 years ago, and I had absolutely no memory of what this book was about until I decided I ought to reread it.I almost want to say this isn't a children's book. Reading it feels like an adult talking about the life of a child, which is true. But it also allows a young reader to really be able to insert themselves into the story and be the one the author is talking about.I loved this. I loved this to the moon and back. There was such a good message that I missed when I was 10-years-old, and this was so beautifully written. I'm so glad I decided to spend the time to reread it (and it was a quick read being at a lower reading level!). I'll definitely be adding this to my favorites list.

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