Customer Reviews

Wringer (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition)

5 star:		(144)
4 star:		(77)
3 star:		(32)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(19)

 

 

Jerry Spinelli's "Wringer" is one of a very special class of books: a novel that is marketed to younger readers, but which also has much to offer adults. This is a powerful and hauntingly beautiful book.

"Wringer" takes place in the rural town of Waymer, a community known for a yearly event: Pigeon Day, during which sharpshooters fire at pigeons as they are released from cages. Those unfortunate birds which fall to the ground wounded, but not killed, have their necks wrung by boys known as "wringers." Traditionally, a Waymer boy becomes a wringer at age ten.

The novel follows the story of a Waymer boy named Palmer who does not want to become a wringer, but faces intense peer pressure to join in the tradition. "Wringer" is an intense study of social pressure, gender roles among children, bullying, and the rationalization of violence. The book also contains a memorable portrait of one very special human-animal "friendship." Palmer is a compelling hero, and Spinelli's stark writing style has a lyrical beauty which reminded me of Ernest Hemingway. Particularly interesting is Spinelli's use of symbolism involving popular culture icons. This is a remarkable novel which I recommend highly to readers of all ages.

Mills, Claudia. "The Structure of the Moral Dilemma in Shiloh." Children's Literature 1999: 185-196. Spinelli, Jerry. Wringer. New York: HarperCollins, 1997. The novel Wringer tells the story of Palmer LaRue, a young boy who faces a number of crucial decisions. The book takes place within a little over a year. Palmer celebrates his 9th birthday in the first half, then his 10th birthday in the second half. Palmer's group of friends consists of three boys, Beans, Mutto and Henry. The boys' main goal during their childhood is to become a wringer. A wringer is a young boy, 10 years of age, whose job is to break the necks of pigeons who aren't completely shot and killed during the annual pigeon shooting contest in their town. The only problem is that, Palmer dreads his 10th birthday because the last thing he wants is to become a wringer. Throughout the novel, Palmer faces this moral dilemma, and he must decide whether he should please his friends, his parents, society, or himself. Claudia Mills explains this struggle when she comments that; " children are trying to sort through their moral obligations against a background of their parents' beliefs...and transmitted beliefs of their culture"(185). Palmer's gang of friends all desire to be wringers, with the exception of Henry who just plays along so that Beans and Mutto will accept him. Since they constantly put pressure on Palmer to be "cool," Palmer goes along with them to be accepted not only by his friends, but by society as well. The pigeon-shooting contest is a known tradition in the town where Palmer lives and he thinks something is wrong with him since he doesn't like the activity. He exclaims, " I'm going to be ten in 71 days, and then I'm going to have to be a wringer and I don't want to. So what kind of kid am I? Everybody wants to kill pigeons but me. What's the matter with me?" Palmer believes he has the problem, when in actuality he is acting on his conscience and what he believes is morally right. According to Palmer, killing pigeons is wrong because there is no reason for it. When his younger friend Dorothy asks him why people kill pigeons, he simply says, "He was born a pigeon"(185). With this comment Palmer is reinstating the fact that the killing of the pigeons is done for no good reason at all. The townspeople support the shootings because it brings money to their park facilities. However, Mills writes that in the novel Shiloh, Marty's character "claims that it is love, not money, that should establish relation of belonging"(192). This theory also holds true in Wringer, because Palmer's love for Nipper, his pet pigeon, he believes is a much stronger force than the town park money problem. Throughout the story, Palmer continually struggles with what his dad thinks of him. Palmer's dad won the "sharp-shooter" award one year at the pigeon shootings, and Palmer believes that his dad will be disappointed in him if he tells his dad how he really feels. Later on in the story, Palmer is relieved to find out that his dad really didn't plan on pressuring Palmer into anything he didn't want to do. This realization makes Palmer much happier toward the end of the novel, and with his parents around to support him, he doesn't feel as insecure about his feelings anymore. Palmer LaRue, the main character in Wringer, struggles with moral dilemmas: he desires to please his family, friends and town, but he also wants to do what he feels is right. As the novel progresses, Palmer feels more strongly about his ideas; and at the conclusion of the story, he knows his decision is the right one for him.

Have you ever been pressured to by so-called "friends" to do something you didn't want to do? That's exactly what Palmer's position was in the book, Wringer. Every year, Palmer's hometown would hold a Family Fun Fair, and every Family Fun Fair, there was an Annual Pigeon Shoot. Five thousand pigeons would be shot, and the wounded ones' necks would be wrung by "wringers". Palmer did not want to be a wringer, and he didn't want to be old enough to be one. His "friends", Beans (Arthur), Mutto (Billy), and Henry (George) all wanted to be wringers. Palmer, of course was the misfit, so unlike them, he didn't want to be one. When a typical January snowstorm hits the neighborhood, something other than snow blows in. To Palmer's horror, it is a pigeon, which was too dumb to realize it was at the wrong town, and at the wrong house. The pigeon, dubbed "Nipper", begins to visit Palmer's house regularly. Palmer decides to keep him as a pet in secret, without Beans, Mutto, Henry, or his parents know. His neighbor, Dorothy Gruzik comes every day to visit Palmer and Nipper. They all become good friends. Things begin to get bad with Nipper's arrival. Every day, Nipper would fly near Palmer and even land on his head in some occasions. Palmer tries everything to evade Nipper- he stays after school, he goes home a different route, he even disguises himself. Nipper would always make Palmer feel emabarrassed. The day of the Pigeon Shoot grows nearer and nearer, so Palmer decides it's time for Nipper to leave. He depends on Dorothy to let Nipper go. Dorothy does this deed, but at the wrong place, at the wrong time. She lets him go at the railroad yards- the same place where the pigeons are caught! Does Nipper get caught? Will Palmer save him in time? Read this book to find out. What would you do to save a friend? Ladies and gentlemen, I invite you to read Wringer, a book you will never put down.

Wringer is a great book for the upper elementary student. It is about a boy named Palmer who faces many real challenges is his life. He is dreading the day of his tenth birthday because that is the day he will become a wringer. In the town that he lives in they have an annual pigoen shooting day. Boys ten and up must run out onto the field and wring the necks of the wounded pigeons. Palmer thinks this is terrible and he doesn't think that he can be a part of this tradition. During the time before his birthday he gets invovled with a gang. This gang pressures him into things he doesn't want to do. It is an excellent story of peer pressure. Then one day a pigeon comes to his window and ends up being his house pet. This has to be kept secret from his friends or they might kill the pigeon. He confides in his neighbor Dorothy, who helps him keep his secret. Palmer's birthday is fast approaching and he must make a decision. A decision to follow the crowd or do what he feels is right in his heart. A great story of a boy's inner struggles to do the right thing.

i've read a lot of reviews from people who think it's 2 violent... well guess what! the world is violent so get over it! it's a great book, so forget the ironic subject and pay attention 2 the flowing sentences and the way jerry spinelli describes this 10 year old's world. i am in 6th grade and to the 5th grade teacher who thinx it's 2 violent, i read this book last year and i still remember, THE KID'S NAME IS PALMER! read this book if you get a chance... it will be a big mistake if you don't thanx

This book is one of the best books ever written, definetely one of Jerry Spinelli's best books. It is such a great book to do a book report on, or read out loud in class! It made me laugh, cry, and sometimes both at the same time :-)! My favorite part? DEFINETELY THE ENDING. Please note: do not skip to the ending otherwise it will spoil it for you. Some people get confused in the beginning but, THINK AGAIN. I noticed some of the reviewers were complaining about it being "hard to understand".If you are thinking that, it's really easy to understand. The only thing Spinelli is doing is comparing Palmer's tenth birthday to an actual living thing, which is very clever in my opinion. I don't think there are too many gory parts, it's mostly about Palmer's forbidden pet and how Palmer tries to fit in with a group of boys, doing crazy things just to be with them. I would recommend this book to ANYBODY. I did not expect such a wonderful book when i bought it. Thank you, Jerry Spinelli, for giving me such a wonderful reading expierience!!!:-)READ THIS BOOK NOW! IT'S A DEFINITE READ FOR SPRING, SUMMER, FALL OR/AND WINTER. I'm already reading it for the 8th time, you'll love it!

I was a bit hesitant when I started reading Wringer, by Jerry Spinelli. A book about killing pigeons in mass numbers wasn't exactly my idea of an enjoyable book...but I'm glad I decided otherwise.
I was introduced to an eight-year-old Palmer LaRue, a boy without any true friends. Palmer has a growing secret inside him he doesn't even consider telling anyone. Palmer is afraid of being a wringer when he turns ten. This occurs at the annual Family Fest. Pigeons are released and shot at; the wounded ones are what the 10-year-old wringers are for.
On his ninth birthday he's accepted into a group of boys (Beans, Mutto, and Henry, AKA the Beans Boys). Beans is the leader of the group and is quite a mean boy who enjoys tormenting people, especially Palmer's neighbor, Dorothy Gruzik. Beans calls Dorothy `Fishface', and soon Beans' strong influence on Palmer causes him to call her `Fishsface' as well. One night a pigeon tapping on Palmer's window causes him to wake up. Palmer doesn't realize it, but this little pigeon (whom Palmer names Nipper) is going to change his life forever. Palmer gets closer and closer to turning ten. As becoming a wringer at the Family Fest creeps up on him, Nipper's life is in danger, Palmer discovers who his friends really are, and he befriends someone he never imagined would impact his life.
I rated this book four stars because I absolutely loved it and highly recommend it. Palmer's strong belief in what he thought was right, even under peer pressure, was truly inspirational. The only thing that prevented me from rating the book five stars was the choice of ages for the characters. If they had been possibly several years older, their thoughts and actions would seem much more realistic, but other than that, this is a book you should look into.

The book Wringer was a good book and I recommend it to people. This book would most likely be advised to children from ages nine to twelve because the characters in this book are of these ages, and the book is about a boy's life, and what he goes through to be "one of the guys." This book was a bout a nine year old boy dreading to become ten because when this happens he has to become a wringer. In the mean time, he gets three new friends named Beans, Henry, and Mutto while leaving out his other friend Dorothy. He also gets a surprise after a terrible blizzard from a pigeon in which he takes in and cares for, for several months. He has to let the pigeon go when his friends start to get suspicious of his bird-friend. My favorite chapter in this book would be the last. In this chapter Palmer, the main character, is at Family Fest where he is supposed to become a wringer (a kid starting at age 10 who runs and wrings a shot pigeon's neck to put him out of his misery) His ex-pet pigeon, Nipper, is one of the pigeons waiting in the crates, with another 4,999 pigeons, to be freed and shot down. Nipper happens to get away unharmed because the sharpshooter missed him. He circled the field a few times and stupidly, comes back down and lands on Palmer's head. His friend Beans quickly pulls the pigeon form his head and throws it on the ground and runs off. The sharpshooter had one more chance to gun it down, and miraculously only shot it's wing. As the pigeon's wing got shot, Palmer dived for the pigeon and held it in his arms, getting bloody feathers stuck to his face. After several minutes of sinking his face into the bird, he gets up and runs from Family Fest. This is my favorite chapter because it shows how much feelings Palmer LaRue really had for this pigeon.

Wringer is about a young man who turns 10 years old and gets a special treatment.But when you turn 10 years old in there part of town you automatically become a wringer (a person who wrings pigeons necks)But palmer does not want to become a wringer. So the next day Palmer hears this storm and at the end of this storm a pigeon comes into his window and stays there. Palmer now takes the bird and loves it and cares for it.But palmers friends are wringers so he has to keep it a secret.Palmer and his friends dis like his neighbor and bombs her house with egg and toilet tissue and they also put a dead carcuss on her door step, but later in the book they become friends

Some people say this book should be banned for the violence. That it's going to cause killing in neighbourhoods and such. But the entire point of the book is to prove that violence is disgusting. You can tell that Palmer DOES NOT CONDONE the violence to the pigeons. He is sickened by it. The book is ANTI-violent. Just because it has violence in it, doesn't mean that the author approves of it.

What counts is the theme of the book. Love, and friendship. The end proves that Love is more important than Violence. It shows you what happens to kids in every-day real life. Constant peer pressure. Hanging around with the wrong crowd. The obvious intolerance of the differences between Palmer and his friends. This book lets you know you aren't alone, and that you CAN decide for yourself. It's not important what other people think of you, because there is still friendship with the RIGHT people.

I think what the book is trying to say is: "Forget it. Be your own person."

I don't really like reading Juvenile Fiction, but this is a very rare and pleasant exception.