Wringer

Palmer LaRue dreads his approaching birthday because he does not want to be a wringer, one of the ten-year-old boys who breaks the necks of pigeons wounded at the town's pigeon shoot fund raiser. When his three bullying friends suspect he is sheltering a stray pigeon, Palmer decides to take a personal stand against this annual rite of passage.

"In Palmer LaRue, Spinelli creates a child who grapples with age-old questions about conformity and peer pressure. The fast-paced narrative proceeds with mounting tension to illuminate Palmer's moral dilemma. Spinelli bases the book's core incident on actual pigeon shoots held regularly in Pennsylvania, lending authenticity to a sometimes gentle and sometimes violent story."