Losers, Inc. (Paperback)

by Claudia Mills (Author) "Ethan Winfield straightened his shoulders as he stood against the measuring tape on the back of the kitchen door, trying to make himself taller..." (more)
Key Phrases: regional science fair, science fair project, Tale of Two Cities, West Creek, Grace Gunderson (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal
Grade 4-6. Twelve-year-old Ethan Winfield thinks life is unfair. His older brother is a top student and eighth-grade basketball star at their Colorado middle school, while he prefers low-level reading books and has little aptitude for sports. When his best friend, Julius, suggests they form a club called Losers, Inc., Ethan is ready for membership, making a game of the quest for super-loser status. However, with the appearance of Ms. Gunderson, a beautiful student teacher who will help the sixth-graders prepare quality science-fair projects, Ethan comes to realize that he has no desire to do badly. In fact, his crush unleashes an unfamiliar determination to succeed that both confuses and energizes him, putting a strain on his friendship with Julius. As Ethan begins on an original and hopefully prize-winning project, he is pestered by a classmate, Lizzie Archer, who sends him love poems. He takes part in a scam to trick her into applying to a bogus poetry contest of which she will be the sole winner, but later rues his dishonesty and cruelty as he strives to be worthy of his idol, Ms. Gunderson. Pacing and readability are strengths in this third-person tale with a comfortable mix of adolescent angst and decency. The characters are believable, and even the eccentric and intellectual Lizzie, whose unpopularity overshadows her human vulnerabilities, is portrayed sympathetically. An appealing mix of classroom scenes, basketball action, and tentative steps toward maturity.?Susan W. Hunter, Riverside Middle School, Springfield, VT
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist
Gr. 5^-7. Life is unfair to middle-grader Ethan Winfield and his best friend, Julius, so they form a losers' club. Then Ethan gets a crush on the new student teacher, and suddenly losing is no longer attractive. He wants to impress her. He reads Dickens for his book report (instead of the shortest book on the shelf). He wants to do the best science project (and without his bumbling pal). Maybe Ethan could do as well as his perfect older brother: is that a betrayal of his friend? Meanwhile, the class nerd gets a crush on Ethan, and, to his shame, he joins the bullies in a mean trick to humiliate her. As she did with the girls' scene in Dinah Forever (1995), Mills writes here with touching comedy about a boy's muddle at home and at school. The dinner table scenes are a delight: there are those who talk and those who don't. The teacher is too perfect--as beautiful as Rapunzel and also wise and gentle--but many kids will recognize the power of a crush to change the way you see the world. Most moving is the friendship-disloyalty drama. Who's the loser? Hazel Rochman --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion (September 20, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786812745
• ISBN-13: 978-0786812745
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,116,548 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Losers Inc. Review, May 12, 2006

By	max mordini "max" (highland park) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Losers, Inc. (Hardcover)

My name is Max Mordini. About 3-4 weeks ago I stumbled onto a book that I bought a year or two ago called Losers Inc. The book looked interesting and I decided to read it. After I read the first fifteen pages I was already hooked and I wanted to see what would happen throughout the rest of the book. I will now give you a summary of the book.
The book is about a loser named Ethan Windfield and his best friend Julius. Ethan thought that life was completely unfair; and to make matters worse his brother was a stud. He hated this because he was always compared to his brother who was good at everything academically and sportswise. This was part of why life was so unfair but there were other things besides being compared to his brother. For example, after Julius and Ethan finally finished their book reports their teacher told them that their books were to short. Another example is that the ugliest girl in the whole school liked Ethan.
Ethan and Julius started a club called Losers inc. Their motto was " Some are born losers and some acheive losing. A couple of days after Losers inc. was started Ethan and julius's eyes get caught on a beautiful student teacher name Grace. They were both in love with the teacher and they couldn't stop thinking about her and looked for her in every class until they got to their first period room. Sure enough Grace was sitting at the desk in first period science. Right away Ethan knew he was in love and he would do anything to impress her.
After science ended Ethan realized that the school science fair was coming up. Every year he worked with Julius on his project but he knew that if he wanted to impress her he couldn't work with Julius. They got to Julius's house and Ethan didn't Know how to brake it to Julius but eventually The words ( I dont wont to work with you this year) slipped out. Ethan didn't know what to do for his project but he knew he wanted it to be creative. Eventually Ethan was playing basketball and asked himself why does a basketball bounce? This was what he was going to do for his project, see how balls bouce the way they do, and why they bounce like that. Ethan also didn't want to be made a fool of in English so he picked a book that was 422 pages. He finished the whole entire thing and could not wait for the day he would perform his report. Eventually that day came and Ethan got his report over with and it was perfect. After class the teacher asked if he could talk to Ethan in private. The teacher didn't beileve that Ethan read a book 400 pages. Ethan was crushed he didn't know what to say. He read every page. Eventually she was convinced and gave Ethan an A. Now that Ethan was becoming a better student he was becoming less of a loser.
When the science fair came around he was excited. He thought his expirement could really go to the regionals. Especially because he got tips from Peter who has one the science fair every year. When he brought his experiment and set up his booth, it looked wonderful. The graphs were neatly organized and proffesional looking and his balls were lined up neatly in the back of the booth. His project was the hit of the 6th grade. It was a mob scheme around his booth.
His project was impressive but not impressive enough. He didn't win but they thought his project was very creative and they loved his enthusiasm. Of course Peter won again the fair again, and Ethan could tell that Julius was mad at him because he betrayed Losers inc.
The book ends by Ethan riding to Grace Gunderson's apt. complex to say goodbye and admit to bad things he had done that month and that he wasn't perfect. When he got there he bumped into Julius and had a talk about there friendship and agreed that they were still best friends and that Ethan could be the V.P of Losers inc.

I would recommend this book to grades 4-7. It is a very wonderful book and you have to read it to appreciate it.
Losers Inc. Is a GREAT book!

4.0 out of 5 stars Losers INC., December 1, 2003

By	nate prokuski (huntley, il) - See all my reviews

The book I read was Losers INC. It was about this kid who is oin these losers group, it takes place around when they were middle school people. Ethan, the main character, was the vice president. He finds this girl and has a choice of trying to impress this girl and not be a loser, or stay with the losers and not go for the girl. This book is Fiction but in life it could actually happen.

I would recommend this book to anyone who would have the same "friends or fame" kind of problem. Anyone else can read it also. A kid would like this book, maybe a teen. It would have the same kind of problem in life and could help out a little. When i read this book i kind of had the idea that it has happened to me once. The plot, the choices. The plot i liked alot. It was one of the greatest books i had ever read. The title was good. At first i thought it was non-fiction but it wasn't. There are 2 themes, one the girl isn't everything. The 2nd theme is you don't have to be a loser to get the attention you want.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars As long as you try your best, you're never a loser!, January 18, 2001

By A Customer

Twelve year old Ethan Winfield compares everything he does in life to that of his older brother Peter, who just happens to be perfect. This causes Ethan to consider himself a loser at basketball, book reports, and life in general. He also writes down all of the injustices of the universe in a journal everytime he thinks life is unfair. His only consolation is that his best friend Julius Zimmerman is a bigger loser! When they decide to form their own club, they set strict guidelines for all members. They must aspire to never be inspired!

Most 8-14 year olds will be able to relate to the many mishaps that Ethan and Julius must survive as pre-teens. The most rewarding part of the book is when Ethan decides to right an injustice he has done to the friendless Lizzie who is in love with him. Claudia Mills also satisfys the reader with an ending of self discovery for Ethan that provides hope for all youngsters struggling with adolesence.