The Losers' Club

Dave Jenkinson is a professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba and the author of the “Portraits” section of Emergency Librarian.

First-time novelist John Lekich has selected school bullying as the
subject matter for his humorous young-adult book. Unlike most novels for
teen readers, The Losers’ Club has a number of subplots and a large
cast of characters. Narrated by 15-year-old Alex Sherwood, the book’s
central plot involves the continuing conflict between the male
“losers” at Marshall McLuhan High and Jerry Whitman, one of the
school’s “golden” boys, who runs an extortion ring. A
self-confessed loser like his two best friends, short Winston Churchill
Chang and overweight Rupert “Manny” Crandall, Alex, because he has
cerebral palsy and walks using metal crutches, is not required to pay
weekly “loser bucks” to Jerry and his enforcer, Duane
“Watertank” Waterton.

Empathizing with his fellow losers, Alex uses his “immunity” to
loan them money and “shelter” them from Jerry at school, acts that
earn him the nickname “Savior Sherwood.” Recognizing the threat Alex
poses to his power, Jerry manipulates Alex into entering a Christmas
Festival of Lights competition. If Alex and his team of losers win, then
Jerry will close his extortion business; however, if Jerry’s group
triumphs, then Alex must fold the “Bank of Sherwood” and become
Jerry’s personal collection agent.

In this entertaining book, Lekich reveals that even those at the top of
a school’s social pyramid can be losers. He also explores what it
means to parent—the three main loser characters and the bully all come
from dysfunctional families. Readers who have completed Gordon
Korman’s corpus should be directed to The Losers’ Club. Highly
recommended.