Roth, Matthue.  Losers. Scholastic Push, 2008.  9780545068932.  $8.99.  Grades 8 -10.

Jupiter Glazer  is a loser for too many reasons to list all of them here, but to summarize:  he’s from another country, he has only one friend who’s a science geek, and he lives in a factory with his family in the warehouse district of Philadelphia.  He gets the opportunity to attend a fancy prep school, but he’s woefully lost.  On the very first day of school, a big, scary guy named Hayes,  beats the crap out of him.  Hayes continues to bully him right up until the day he begs Jupiter to take him downtown to meet guys he can date.  This short and sweet exploration of how kids who are different from the norm struggle through adolescence until they figure out who they are and how they fit into the universe.  Jupiter’s experiences as a Russian immigrant help him to understand what his bully/friend Hayes is going through trying to find “his people.”  The author, Matthue Roth,  also published a memoir entitled Yom Kippur-a-go-go, which I can’t wait to read now! –Arla Jones