From then on she punishes him by keeping the button in the drawer. “Miss Meeks,” he says, “I laughed when you were gone.”Īnd she realizes at last that for Zinkoff the button is not a punishment at all, but a badge of honor. When she returns she finds Zinkoff’s hand waving in the air. One day Miss Meeks has to leave the classroom for a while. The passage is significant because it speaks to Zinkoff's profound mix of innocence and creativity, qualities that often go unrecognized by his teachers and classmates. He believes that the stars fall to Earth, shiny and hot, and that his mother collects them while wearing heavy gloves and dark sunglasses as protection. To Zinkoff, the silver stars his mother gives him are not simply dollar-store stickers-they are no different than the stars in the night sky.

In this passage, Spinelli reveals the depth of Zinkoff's imagination. She puts them in the freezer for forty-five minutes, and when they come out they are flat and silver and sticky on the back and ready for his shirts. He believes she has to use heavy gloves and dark sunglasses because the fallen stars are so hot and shiny. He believes that stars fall from the sky sometimes, and that his mother goes around collecting them like acorns. However, the system, as it is designed, cannot adapt to Zinkoff's learning disabilities, and so Zinkoff is doomed to receive low grades.Īt this time in his life Zinkoff sees no difference between the stars in the sky and the stars in his mother’s plastic Baggie. Zinkoff is so enthusiastic about school that he should be a top student. The passage is significant because it reveals how Zinkoff's difficulties with school result not from a lack of willingness but from a lack of supportive accommodations within his learning environment. In this passage, the narrator describes how the excitement of the first day of school is sparked anew every morning. 37Īlthough Zinkoff has little aptitude for schoolwork, he loves school and shamelessly participates as much as he can. Things keep happening that rekindle the excitement of the first day. Here is the surprise: Every day is like the first day to Zinkoff.

Loser book zinkoff