Loser, by Jerry Spinelli, is one of my favorite fiction novels. The main plot of the story is that Donald Zinkoff has horrible handwriting, is clumsy, and is a loser to everyone else. But Zinkoff sees himself as a winner with glorious hand writing. I think this book should have been a Newberry Medal winner because of the moral it teaches: never give up. Zinkoff explodes with laughter with just a word like “jabip.” Donald rarely becomes angry because he laughs at anything that's funny, including himself at times.
The book is entirely third person with the narrator speaking. An interesting thing about Zinkoff is that he's terrible at schoolwork, but he adores school. Here's an example of Zinkoff's interesting ordeal:

One day he awakens before anyone else in the house. He gets himself dressed. He makes his own breakfast. He brushes his teeth and walks off to school. I must be early, he thinks, for he sees no crossing guards or other children along the way.
He is sitting on the front step waiting for the door to open when he hears Clunker Four. It stops in front of the school and out pop both his mother and father. Both come running.
“Donald, we've been looking all over! You weren't in your bed!”
“I came to school all by myself,” he declares proudly.
His parents look at each other. His mother bites her lip. His father picks him up and says, “You're very big to do that all by yourself. The only problem is, there's no school today. It's Saturday.”
When Miss Meeks passes Zinkoff on to second grade, she writes on the back of his final report card: “Donald sometimes has a problem with self-control, and I wish he were neater, but he is so good natured. That son of yours is one happy child! And he certainly does love school!”(pp.32-33)

I believe this insert is a blending of attentiveness, energy, and just plain humor. It is amazing that out of all of Spinelli's books, including Loser, that Maniac Magee is his only awarded book. Not many people even know that Loser exists.
Since this book is written in third person, Zinkoff's ideas aren't expressed very much. However, third person gives you a full overview of the characters, such as “big shot” Gary Hobin and the playful Claudia.
With everything into consideration, I give this book a lucky 7. The main plot is a problem that a lot of other kids have. I think this book would be more enjoyable if the plot was more adventurous. To me, the plot of this book is no real plot, it's actually a self issue Zinkoff has.
Also, Zinkoff has no personal interests from what the book tells us. The only thing
Zinkoff dislikes is waiting. And Zinkoff rarely surveys his surroundings. His character and personality isn't explained by the book.
The book Loser's theme would have to be to “never give up and to keep going forward.” Zinkoff realizes that anyone can go from “loser” to “winner.” In the final chapters, Donald keeps going on to rescue a lost child. In the conclusion, Zinkoff is finally accepted by the other children.
I can't wait for Jerry Spinelli's next installment, and I hope Zinkoff is included.