I just finished reading this wonderful book which the cover reads “Palmer—a little boy who runs away from his birthday” with tears. It’s called/entitled “Wringer,” a 1998 Newbery Honor book by Jerry Spinelli.
It’s a story of a little boy named Palmer LaRue who lived in Waymer, a rural town well-known for its yearly event called ‘Pigeon Shooter’s Day. (Men in town will shoot about 5,000 pigeons as they are released from cages on that day!!). When every boy in this town turns 10, they become ‘wringers.’
A wringer’s job is to retrieve dead birds from the field and to wring the wounded ones’ necks. In order to be accepted, Palmer and his gang have to endure/go through lots of hardships/things, including bearing a painful nine-year ill-treatments from his friends, teasing his neighbors, doing unkind things to his teacher, etc.
However, Palmer is not looking forward to the day he turns 10. He doesn’t want to be a wringer, particularly after he has befriended Nipper, a pigeon who comes to his window. His life becomes more complicated as he has to balance between maintaining a good relationship with his gang and his pigeon. Under peer pressure and uncompromising/unbendable/rigid traditions, Palmer finds it hard not to ‘go with the flow.’
At the end, Palmer has a very tough decision to make—going against his friends? Defying the tradition? OR Saving Nipper’s life?
Three main things I would like to discuss after reading this book.
First of all, the reason to kill 5,000 pigeons just to ‘pay for the town’s park maintenance’ is just absurd. I find it unacceptable when the townspeople ‘humanely’ assured the wringers that it’s okay to put dying pigeons to death. My religion, Buddhism, teaches me to be a good person, to harm or kill no one. I don’t understand those who harm, beat or kill other beings. I try not to kill even a mosquito. I really hope this won’t happen in real life.
As a grownup, I know how to separate facts from fiction, but I’m not sure how well younger readers can cope with this. There seems to be some violence and aggressive behaviors displayed by children in the book. Parents need to pay closer attention if their children choose to read this book.
Finally, this book shows the courage of a little boy, Palmer, who goes up against the world only to keep his lovely pet. I think this is a good point that readers can gain from this book.
All in all, I like this book, I like the way little things are explained in great details. It’s like you become a child again. However, I would give it just 5 out of 10.
~P.S. Thanks A.Suriyan for review my review~
