A bratty prince and his whipping boy have many adventures when they inadvertently trade places after becoming involved with dangerous outlaws. Forced to serve as whipping boy to the arrogant and spiteful Prince Brat, Jemmy plans to run away, but on the night of his escape, he and the Prince have a climactic confrontation. Prince Brat decides to run away from home, taking his much abused whipping boy, Jemmy, with him, but their roles are reversed when the boys are captured by the villains Cut-Water and Hold-Your-Nose-Billy. John Newbery Award, 1987. This highly original tale, a sort of takeoff on the Prince and the Pauper, shows what happens when an obnoxious prince switches places with the boy who is punished for the prince's every misdeed, the whipping boy. A bratty prince and his whipping boy have many adventures when they inadvertently trade places after becoming involved with dangerous outlaws. A shout comes echoing up the stairway, fetch the whipping boy. A young orphan named Jemmy rouses from his sleep. Ain't I already been whipped twice today? What's the prince done now? It was forbidden to spank, thrash, or whack the heir to the throne. Jemmy had been plucked from the streets to serve as whipping boy to the arrogant and spiteful Prince Brat. Dreaming of running away, Jemmy finds himself trapped in Prince Brat's own dream, at once brash and perilous. In this briskly told tale of high adventure, taut with suspense and rich with colorful characters, the whipping boy and Prince Brat must at last confront each other. Award winning author Sid Fleischman again blends the broadly comic with the deeply compassionate in this memorable novel; splendid entertainment and a Newbery Medal winning book in 1987. Fleischman's earlier works, such as the 1966 Chancy and the Grand Rascal and By the Great Horn Spoon, are also sure treats, and happily still in print.