Wringer

This is an okay book written by Jerry Spinelli. Palmer LaRue is a 9-year-old boy living in a small community where they hold a pigeon shoot each year at the family fest. As a rite of passage, 10-year-old boys are encouraged to kill a pigeon by wringing its neck. Palmer is terrified about his upcoming birthday because he does not want to participate. When he is accepted by a gang of boys, he knows that he cannot be perceived as a wimp. And to complicate matters even more, he secretly keeps a pigeon as a pet.