Theme of the book loser by jerry spinelli

Stargirl was not comfortable changing to being more like everyone else. Jerry spinelli books list of books by author jerry spinelli. Growing up, jerry spinelli was really serious about baseball. May 12, 2009 what would be the mood and theme of the book loser by jerry spinelli. Written by jerry spinelli, audiobook narrated by steve buscemi. Loser study guide contains a biography of jerry spinelli, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. I think this because through the whole book, the main character, had a last name as zinkoff. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. Stargirl and loser are both good books by jerry spinelli.

Loser, by jerry spinelli, follows the life throughout grade school of a boy. Jan 24, 2011 jerry spinelli still remembers the sunday night when he was awakened by a phone call. Satterfield elementary school, and in zinkoffs neighborhood. Teachers could place students in small groups to work on this project to promote discussion of the story and what message the group is trying to send through their poster. His wellknown books include his space station seventh grade 1982, the 1991 newbery medal winning maniac magee, the newbery honorwinning 1998 novel wringer, the 2000. But as donald zinkoff gets older, the other kids realize what a loser he really is. The book is unique among spinelli s work in that it is. Shes probably eight years old at the end of the book. Jerry spinelli was born in norristown, pennsylvania. Loser is a coming of age young adult novel first published in 2002 by american author jerry spinelli. In grade school, being successful may seem like having the most friends, buying the. Jerry spenelli writes for children and juveniles, actuallyhis target audience are those in middle gradeyet teenagers, young adults, and adults could totally enjoy reading his books. Loser 2002, by american author jerry spinelli, is a coming of age novel for young adults.

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. I loved the main character of donald zinkoff donald zinkoff is such a fun, lovable character. These notes were contributed by members of the gradesaver community. What is the theme to the book loser by jerry spinelli. Last weekend, i finished reading loser by jerry spinelli and loved this novel loser is the seventh novel written by jerry spinelli that ive read to date and its a fabulous novel to read and savor the writing by spinelli is phenomenal for loser. The book losers theme would have to be to never give up and to keep going forward. Stargirl, jerry spinelli falling from fire, teena booth holes, louis sachar dr. Take this quiz to find out if you understood what you read. The themes of loser include education, societal indifference toward kindness, and the nobility of maintaining ones vision of life. Loser jerry spinelli paperback harpercollins publishers. This handson and interpersonal lesson bundle will help your students comprehend the novel loser by jerry spinelli, and it will also allow them to them explore literary element. Who in the book do you think believe that zinkoff is a loser.

The third story is about two girls, each trying to find their. Author jerry spinelli answers questions from students about his school daze series, his other books, and how he gets his ideas. Loser is a touching book about the human spirit, the importance of failure, and how any name can someday be replaced with hero. The main plot of the story is that donald zinkoff has horrible handwriting, is clumsy, and is a loser to everyone else. Handpicked recommendations to other books that have a similar writing style or theme to loser. He went to gettysburg college and johns hopkins university. So loser is basically about donald zinkoff, which is an exceptional and special kid. Best friends are always together, always whispering and laughing and running, always at each. Spinelli has written a number of childrens books and is a winner of the newbery medal. The bully in the book loser by jerry spinelli is gavin. Especially when he produces a novel in the young adult genre. Comprehension by chapter, vocabulary challenges, creative reading response activities and projects, tests, and much more.

She changed because she knew how important it the importance of knowing what is really important. The story mostly takes place at zinkoffs house, john w. The theme of a novel is a message about life that is present in the story. His novel, maniac magee, had just won the 1991 newbery medal. From renowned newberywinning author jerry spinelli comes a powerful story. The noted novelist and childrens author jerry spinelli, born on the 1st february, 1941 at norristown in pennsylvania, united states, is best known for his specialized novels intended towards readers in their early adolescence. Then i shopped around in my notes and in my head for any ideas that seemed to fit into that original idea. Jerry spinellis book loser is a comingofage tale about donald zinkoff, known to other kids simply as zinkoff. The characters in loser by jerry spinelli i got this of wiki. Isolated and alone, he struggles to deal with his solitary way of life. Fortunately, zinkoff is so wrapped up in the amazing world around him that his good. Loser themes jerry spinelli this study guide consists of approximately 38 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of loser. Stories of children and war edited by jennifer armstrong midnight predator, amelia atwaterrhodes to carl francis, who has danced on the scoreboard 1.

Jerry spinelli born february 1, 1941 is an american writer of childrens novels that feature adolescence and early adulthood. It details the growth of donald zinkoff, who is branded a. This study guide consists of approximately 66 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of crash jerry spinelli. He is best known for maniac magee, stargirl and wringer. The book is unique among spinellis work in that it is.

Loser, by jerry spinelli, follows the life throughout grade school of a boy named donald zinkoff, who has a hard time achieving success in anything he does, yet proves to be very successful at being a good person. Zinkoff realizes that anyone can go from loser to winner. This classic book is perfect for fans of gordon korman and carl hiaasen. Jerry spinelli is the author of maniac magee, winner of the 1991 newbery medal, and wringer, named a newbery honor book in 1998. Get this book free when you sign up for a 30day trial. Zinkoffs no one calls him donald except his teachers mistakes and quirks are endearing, since were seeing them from the inside. Just like other kids, zinkoff rides his bike, hopes for snow days, and wants to be like his dad when he grows up. This 46th grade common corealigned unit includes printables for daily. Imagine who you would cast in the movie version of loser. A discussion of important themes running throughout loser. Reading guide for loser by jerry spinelli bookbrowse. Best friends are always together, always whispering and laughing and running, always at each others house, having dinner, sleepin. Loser, by jerry spinelli, is one of my favorite fiction novels. Jerry spinellis novel stargirl contains multiple themes as they concern relationships among people.

He and his wife, eileen, also a writer of childrens books, have seven children. We are thankful for their contributions and encourage you to make your own. The loser community note includes chapterbychapter summary. From renowned newberywinning author jerry spinelli comes a powerful story about how not fitting in just might lead to an incredible life. What is the theme to the book loser by jerry spinelli answers. What happens in the book loser when zinkoff is in the fifth grade.

Loser by jerry spinelli chapters 1921 summary and analysis. What is the theme of loser by jerry spinelli answers. As zinkoff enters middle school, he transitions from being the butt of all jokes to being completely ignored. Jan 22, 2018 loser novel study focuses on standardsbased comprehension and vocabulary activities for the book loser by jerry spinelli.

As a newbery awardwinning author, spinelli can expect readers to have high expectations. Like when donald zinkoff raises his hand with all the wrong answers, but he still raises his hand not giving up. Most adolescents feel an extreme need to fit in with their peers and do what is cool. Its about how she copes and how the library card introduces her to herself and she finds out there is a whole world without tv. Create a poster for your movie that illustrates a scene that would show what the movie is about. The setting of the book loser by jerry spinelle takes place in a small brick and hoagie town asked in jerry spinelli who is the waiting man waiting for in the book loser by jerry spinelli. Signin to download and listen to this audiobook today. Donald zinkoff cant sit still, cant stop laughing, falls over his own feet, adores school and silly words and his family, is prone to throwing up due to a defective stomach valve, is impervious to peer pressure, and never frets about being perennially last in any competition just as hes last in the alphabet. My favorite author now is eileen spinelli, who happens to live in my house here. The other prominent theme in this book is judgement. It details the growth of donald zinkoff, who is branded a loser by his classmates due to his clumsiness, poor performance in school and athletics, and sometimes clueless enthusiasm.

Because he is a such a bighearted kid, zinkoff spends a great deal of time considering the value of friendship. The main setting of the story loser by jerry spinelli is in a small, interesting town. Once again, newbery medalwinning author jerry spinelli uses great wit and humor to create the unique story of zinkoff as he travels from first through sixth grades. Free loser worksheets and literature unit for teachers. Actually, there was no particular inspiration it was time to start a new book, and i thought id like to write a book about a kid who was a hero to other kids. Loser is the story donald zinkoff as he moves from the first through the sixth grades. Donald is tagged a loser after failing a field day challenge for his fourth grade class, but his unique and inspiring view of life keeps his spirits afloat. A massive snow storm blankets his town at the same time a small girl, claudi, goes missing. The theme is that palmer was intelligent and he listened to his parents and that his bad friends found out that he was keeping a pigeon. Loser by jerry spinelli growing up can be extremely difficult.

Author jerry spinelli is pretty darn famous for his stories of childhood and adolescence. The first reason why i found it a bit boring is because the main characters life donald is so boring. Who are the characters from loser by jerry spinelli answers. Language arts book summary maybe a little kid can get away with wearing a giraffe hat, yelling yahoo. What is the theme of the book wringer by jerry spinelli. Loser 2002 read online free book by jerry spinelli in. We will begin using this reading response notebook by utilizing it throughout our discussion and study of loser by jerry spinelli. I am the creator of crash7 here you can find helpful information about the book crash, by jerry spinelli.

Also, he wore a giraffe hat at the way beginning of a book. The end of jerry spinellis book loser is that gary hobin and two of his friends find out that zinkoff was looking for claudia for 7 hours. I found that the first pages that i have read are kind of boring for several reasons. Charging joyously into each day, zinkoff baffles older. This study guide consists of approximately 38 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of loser. Quotes from the book loser by jerry spennelli answers. Literature book units by jerry spinelli loser grades 36 eggs grades 37 maniac magee grades 46. 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 ja. He played for the green sox little league team in his hometown of norristown, pennsylvania, and dreamed of one day playing for the major leagues, preferably as shortstop for the new york yankees. The back of the book says he wrote crash, which was published in 1996, to show the world a little bit of what jocks are made of. Jerry spinelli s novel, loser, is an excellent choice for teaching students theme, characterization, plot and so much more. And he has been running over people ever since, especially penn webb, the dweeby, vegetarian quaker kid who lives down the block.

This middle grade novel is an excellent choice for tween readers in grades 5 to 6, especially during homeschooling. Hes a newbery medalist whos written more than two dozen novels for kids. Please answer these in a reading response notebook of your choice that you will use throughout the course of this year. Spinelli is best known for his 1990 newbery award winning childrens book, maniac magee. No, but i did play with a lot of africanamerican kids, and that was part of my inspiration for the theme of the book. Donalds life is so boring because it is the first days of school, he does not have friends, he has the same program every day which is go to school, come home, go to school come. Fortunately, spinelli rarely disappoints and he doesnt disappoint here. He and his wife, eileen, also a writer of childrens books, have seven. Loser by jerry spinelli meet your next favorite book. His novels are recognized for their humor and poignancy, and his characters and situations are often drawn from his. I think there could be two possible themes for jerry spinellis book loser. Jerry spinellis novel, loser, is an excellent choice for teaching students theme, characterization, plot and so much. Jul 29, 2003 jerry spinelli received the newbery medal for maniac magee and a newbery honor for wringer.