Quirky Reads: Loser by Jerry Spinelli

Rachie's Musings on: Loser by Jerry Spinelli

Loser follows the story of Zinkoff, or Donald Zinkoff as he is known to his parents and teachers.

The book follows Zinkoff through elementary/primary school and reminds us what it’s like to see the world through the eyes of a child.

Zinkoff loves school, for the most part he loves his teachers and he loves life. You could easy assume that this book is designed for a young audience, it has a teen friendly cover and it follows the life of a school child, but it can also give us ‘adults’ a bit of a kick up the backside!!

Zinkoff has that same enthusiasm for life and fire in his belly that everyone is born with, where absolutely everything is a fun new discovery and it’s the most awesome thing ever.
As we grow up, life beats that out of us a little bit, we lose the sparkle and we become grown ups.

While following Zinkoff through his story, I could almost see the sparkle starting to fade from him, although it never left him completely. Zinkoff grew up like kids do, but while the other kids became ‘grown up kids’ and adapted to all the attitudes and etiquettes that come with getting a bit older and keeping up with everyone – Zinkoff stood out by holding on to the little eccentricities that make him Zinkoff.

I really enjoyed Loser, it’s not a long read, but it’s a damn good one and it’s encouraged me to try and make sure I keep the sparkle in my life :-)

Comments

I'm Grateful For: Autumn Joys

I did it again, I went nearly a whole year without posting anything, because I'm rubbish. If you're new here, I do this. If you're not new, you know this. I have no real excuse this year - last year was the year of opposites, I had a lot on at work, my mother and father in law died 21 days apart, I got married four months later, there was grief, there was a Canadian honeymoon, there was stuff going on. I'd be lying if I said this year had been smooth sailing, but there's been more of a sense of calm. I get to autumn and I get all airy fairy and contemplative, it's no longer about making it through the year, it's, as my boss beautifully put it this week, limping towards Christmas. Years ago, and about three blogs ago - if you can be bothered scrolling far enough through the archive I've uploaded here - I used to write happy lists of all the things that made me happy, because I was a bit like Joy from inside out - happy because happy and even when it...

Blogmas: Prattling nonsense about Christmas and Potatoes

We all knew when I posted a Blogmas post on December 1st that it would be highly unlikely I'd post daily. It's not laziness, I promise. I just don't like posting when even I don't find it interesting! My December has been very different this year. On a 'normal' year I'd be out nearly every day playing Christmas music either in the street, in a church of some sort or in a care facility for the elderly. This year, I've largely been sat on my posterior binge watching Riverdale. I've cut down largely on actually reading social media but I have been watching people's stories and posting nonsense, I just find it healthier not to engage with everything I scroll past. I think that might be what I take from this year, consume less - create more. James christened me 'Little Miss Christmas' in the past and that's actually quite a fair description, for a grown woman I am absolutely nuts on Christmas. It's fair to say I get high on t...

Stop faking it: 30 day challenge #5

Something I realised today that I have allowed to feed my imposter syndrome is the fact that I look younger than I am. I’m quite lucky in that respect, for the most part, people are kind to me because they see the youthful face and have a comforting tone and a kinder delivery. Sometimes though, it can manifest in someone being patronising or dismissive of ‘the daft wee lassie’ I don’t always carry myself as the 32 year old that I am, which can perhaps come off as inexperience or ineptitude. When I do start to carry myself as a competent and experienced 32 year old, I’ve found people who assume I’m younger can read it as ‘getting above my station’ It was a harmless comment from an older colleague talking about old money that sparked the thought process in my head but it has reminded me to address it. It perhaps comes under ‘practice it until your perfect it’ - I can work on carrying myself not so much as a ‘grown up’ but as someone who has the experience and knowledge ...

Knilly Frickers

Search This Blog