Palmer LaRue has been dreading the day he turns 10. In his town, 10-year-olds get the job of "wringer" at the town's annual family festival, Pigeon Day, where 5,000 pigeons are released from crates and shot down in a competition for a sharpshooter award. The story follows Palmer's journey from a life driven by fear and the longing to be accepted to one where he gains the confidence to stand up for what he believes.
Students can make text connections by illustrating their favorite quote or scene from Wringer by Jerry Spinelli and explaining what it means to them.
Storyboard Text
Favorite Scene in WRINGER by Jerry Spinelli
A turning point in the novel is when Palmer finally confesses his feelings to Dorothy. He has been dreading turning 10 since he was 5 and witnessed his first Family Fest. He was horrified by the shooting of the pigeons and the jobs of the wringers. Since then, he hasn't confided in anyone; his father won the shoot one year and his friends in the gang can't wait to be wringers. Dorothy is the only one who sees Palmer. She gives him simple and straightforward advice. Sometimes the best course of action is the simplest. Be true to yourself. However, that doesn't mean that it is easy to follow.
"Then don't." . . . "If you don't want to be a wringer, don't be a wringer."
"Tears filled his eyes. He let go. “I don’t want to be a wringer. But everybody else is a wringer when they’re ten, and I’m going to be ten in seventy-one days, and then I’m going to have to be a wringer too but I don’t want to. So what kind of a kid am I? Everybody wants to kill pigeons but me. What’s the matter with me?” He said it all. He said things he had been thinking and feeling for years."