Loser Nickname (Symbol)
After failing to win the one-leg relay race for his team on Field Day, Zinkoff earns the nickname "Loser." The name is a symbol of how Zinkoff is socially ostracized. It comes to represent not only his poor athletic performance but everything abnormal and awkward about him. In a social context that constantly rewards academic and athletic achievements, dividing students into winners and losers, Zinkoff's inherent qualities—mirthfulness, generosity, enthusiasm, selflessness—mean nothing. He is kind to everyone and participates in everything, but in a system that seeks to reward the "best," Zinkoff is unfairly branded a loser.
Yellow Button (Symbol)
The yellow button Miss Meeks pins to Zinkoff's shirt is a symbol of his lack of shame and inability to conform to social norms. During Zinkoff's episode of uncontrollable laughter, Miss Meeks disciplines her student by pinning a yellow button to his shirt that reads "I know I can behave." The button is meant to shame Zinkoff into obedience by reminding him of his misbehavior. However, Zinkoff's lack of shame leads him to value the button. Spinelli writes that Miss Meeks “realizes at last that for Zinkoff the button is not a punishment at all, but a badge of honor. From then on she punishes him by keeping the button in the drawer.”
Vomiting (Motif)
Throughout the novel, Zinkoff vomits at unexpected and inopportune moments. Although the vomiting is a consequence of an upside-down valve in the boy's stomach, the motif of vomiting often lands him in trouble with authority figures—including his father, when he vomits in his mailbag. Zinkoff is also sent out of school by one of his teachers when he accidentally vomits on her favorite eraser. The motif of vomiting uncontrollably comes to an end when Zinkoff undergoes surgery to correct the upside-down valve.
Star Stickers (Symbol)
When he is younger, Zinkoff loves to receive the shiny silver star stickers his mother gives him as rewards for good behavior. The stars symbolize Zinkoff's innocence and imagination. He believes that the stickers are not manufactured but rather that they fall from the sky and land sizzling hot on the ground, waiting for Zinkoff's mother to collect them with heavy gloves and dark sunglasses on to protect herself from their brightness and heat. After cooling down in the freezer, the stars, in Zinkoff's imagination, turn into stickers that his mother carries in a plastic bag.
Ball of Chewing Gum (Symbol)
When Claudia, the little girl whose mother keeps her on a leash, gives Zinkoff a wad of old chewing gum, Zinkoff holds on to it as a prized possession, keeping it in his pocket for good luck. After Claudia goes missing, the ball of chewing gum develops into a symbol of not just luck but hope. Zinkoff holds the hard, desiccated rock of gum in his mouth as a reminder of the little girl he spends seven hours searching for. When the search transforms into a search for Zinkoff, eventually resulting in both his and Claudia's safe return, the ball of gum solidifies its symbolic significance to the boy.
