Wringer: A Newbery Honor Award Winner

by Jerry Spinelli

Book Overview

Newbery Honor Book * ALA Notable Children's Book

"Deeply felt. Presents a moral question with great care and sensitivity." --The New York Times

"A spellbinding story about rites of passage." --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"A realistic story with the intensity of a fable." --The Horn Book (starred review)

"Thought-provoking." --School Library...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0064405788
• ISBN13: 9780064405782
• Release Date: May 2018
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.2" x 7.7"
• Age Range: 8 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 7

Customer Reviews

A very good read, but highly misunderstood.

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.

Great Book!

This is another one of Jerry Spinelli's fascinating books. The Story is excellent and you'll just want to keep on reading it. In the setting of the story, the town has a once-a-year ceeremony called "Family Fest". It lasts a week, and on the last day of Family Fest, the climax of the festival takes place: a mass slaughter of pidgeons occurs, and the wounded pidgeons have a worse fate then being shot. A teenager wrings its neck, with a bone-snapping twist. This began the tradition of becoming a wringer when a boy comes to the age of 12. Palmer hates the pidgeon slaughter. He hated it since his youth, when he had the experience of watching a "loppy-sided" pidgeon being wrought. But when his 11th birthday comes around, he invites 3 neighborhood gangsters: Beans, Mutto, and Henry. But a couple of weeks after his birthday, a soft scratching came at his window. If it sounds interesting to you, then buy the book! I would give this a 6 out of 5 rating, but I like the sort of books that contain some action and a lot of emotion.

Wringer

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.

this book is awesome

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