by Jocelyn Pearce

Created on: February 18, 2009

Losers is a short, funny novel about a quirky Russian kid who can't fit in with the rest of his high school. His best friend, Vadim, is a genius who should be even more of a social outcast than he is, but even he finds his niche before Jupiter does. Vadim's a loser, but he's an acceptedloser among his new group of equally geeky friends. Jupiter is just a loser.Jupiter Glazer (who was named by clueless foreign parents, of course) is lost. Jupiter Glazer is knocked out of orbit, and this book is him, finding his way to where he's supposed to be.

He lives with his parents in a warehouse in Philadelphia, and it is not, he thinks, the most interesting place in the world. Then he discovers downtown. He discovers a whole new world outside of the warehouse and high school, a sophisticated world of coffee shops and those who frequent them. There is, it seems, more to the city than the run-down section of it that he's used to, and he likes what he finds. At school, too, he begins to be less invisible, at first as the school bully's target, hiding in the middle of the girls' soccer team, but then, suddenly, things aren't the way they used to be. From the first day at a new school, Jupiter's life is changing. As our story progresses, Jupiter isn't exactly the out of place, practically invisible, foreign outcast that he used to be, and he's not always sure if that's good or bad.

It's not really about the plot, though. Matthue Roth's latest novel is about the character and the voice, and it rocks. It's hilarious. It's more than a little crazy, yet manages to ring true despite the insanity. There are universal life truths in here in this short and unputdownable book, among Jupiter's escapades, and you'll find yourself rooting for Jupiter wholeheartedly. It's both personal and universal, as a good story should be. And the writing! Even funnier. Descriptive and gritty and captivating. Matthue Roth canwrite. I already loved his wonderful book Never Mind The Goldbergs, so I expected this to be awesome, and it was. Losers lives up to and surpasses expectations. It's a coming of age story that also falls into the madcap adventure category occasionally, and the result is a lot of amusement minus the brain rotting that often accompanies comedy. This is a short novel (easily read in one sitting) that packs a lot of punch and will provoke a lot of muffled laughter. This one is highly recommended.

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