Chapter 11 Summary

When Family Fest arrives, Palmer revels in the rides, food, and games but he cannot forget about the nearby soccer field, which will soon become a killing field at Saturday's Pigeon Shoot. In order to avoid the questions of his attending the event, Palmer takes special pains to avoid Beans, Mutto, Henry, and even Dorothy. The boys have plans to meet early Saturday morning to attend the Pigeon Shoot until the very end but Palmer has planned to feign illness, and falls asleep secure in his diversionary plan.

Chapter 11 Analysis

The author uses the literary technique, onomatopoeia, in this chapter to describe the sounds that Palmer hears at the Family Fest. Onomatopoeia means that the descriptive word actually sounds the same as the sounds the word describes. For example, "He loved the yelp and splash when a ball hit the mark at the...