Loser (a Dyamonde Daniel Book, Book #5) - by Nikki Grimes

About the Book

Dyamonde and her best friend Free compete over everything, from sports and homework to setting the dinner table. They're so competitive, they even place friendly bets for each scenario! However, after Dyamonde goes on a winning (and bragging) streak, things turn rocky. Free stops coming over and soon, he won't even return her calls. Then suddenly, he starts hanging out with other kids in the neighborhood. With their friendship at risk, Dyamonde must work to follow her mother's advice: "Sorry is good, but sorry can't fix everything."

Book Synopsis

Everybody's favorite smart, spunky third grader returns in the long-awaited fifth installment of the award-winning Dyamonde Daniel series! Dyamonde and her best friend Free compete over everything, from sports and homework to setting the dinner table. They're so competitive, they even place friendly bets for each scenario! However, after Dyamonde goes on a winning (and bragging) streak, things turn rocky. Free stops coming over and soon, he won't even return her calls. Then suddenly, he starts hanging out with other kids in the neighborhood. With their friendship at risk, Dyamonde must work to follow her mother's advice: "Sorry is good, but sorry can't fix everything." Readers are welcomed back to the world of Dyamonde Daniel in a big way with the fifth installment in the series, LOSER: A Dyamonde Daniel Book. As in previous titles in the series, Dyamonde learns valuable lessons from experiences with classmates and friends in school and her community and often seeks the advice of her mother in these situations. Dyamonde's closest friendship is put to the test, though, in what proves to be her most challenging lesson yet. Dyamonde and Free have developed a strong relationship and have shared many moments with each other, but when Dyamonde starts teasing Free on her winning streak, she is not sure what to do when Free decides not to speak with her. Award-winning author Nikki Grimes once again guides the reader through Dyamonde's story, this time coming to the root cause of strains in a once indestructible friendship. She shows Dyamonde's journey of learning how her words and actions can affect even the closest of friends, and how she finds her way back to him through rigorous reflection. LOSER: A Dyamonde Daniel Book is sure to bring back all the loyal readers of the previous books to see what their favorite third grader is up to as well as introduce a new generation of readers to a grade school phenom!

About the Author

New York Times bestselling author Nikki Grimes was inducted into the Black Authors Hall of Fame in 2023. Her honors include the CSK Virginia Hamilton Lifetime Achievement Award, the ALAN Award for significant contributions to young adult literature, the Children's Literature Legacy Medal, and the NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children. Author of the Coretta Scott King Award-winner Bronx Masquerade, and five Coretta Scott King Author Honors, she won the Printz Honor and Sibert Honor for her memoir Ordinary Hazards. Her latest titles include Garvey's Choice: The Graphic Novel, a School Library Journal 2023 Best Book; Lullaby for the King, one of Book Riot's 25 Best Christmas Books of All Time; and A Walk in the Woods, recipient of 8 starred reviews, and 11 Best Book listings for 2023, including the New York Times, NPR, and Smithsonian Magazine. Ms. Grimes lives in Corona, California.