Donald Zinkoff is certainly 'different'. He loves school, right from the beginning, and is usually the first one to arrive. We meet him first as he enters first grade, and he is in the sixth grade when the book ends. He probably has dyspraxia (clumsy-child syndrome) though this is not specified, and he certainly has learning difficulties. Constantly cheerful and not overly sensitive, he is liked by the other children until fourth grade, when they suddenly become aware of his different-ness and he becomes known as 'Loser'. His supportive and very loving parents and younger sister accept him as he is, and he, though a loner, makes friends in the most unusual ways. Highly lovable, Zinkoff is supported in many ways and learns to cope with those who are less understanding. His own real heroic action, looking for a lost child, almost ends in tragedy for Zinkoff himself when , after being out in the snow for seven house, he is discovered almost frozen - only to find that the little girl was found hours before. This is a brilliant, superbly written book. Zinkoff and all the people around him leap off the page with sympathy and realism.