The Whipping Boy is about a prince who people call "Prince Brat" behind his back. The prince is always playing pranks for which his whipping boy has to pay the price by getting whipped. However, much to the prince's agitation he never yells out in pain when he is getting whipped. One night, the prince convinces the whipping boy to come with him to run away. The whipping boy doesn't want to go, because he is afraid of getting punished. The prince is determined to go, though, because he is "bored." Jemmy and the prince get caught by two villains who want to demand a ransom from the King. They become convinced that Jemmy is the real prince, not Horace. This is due to his ability to write. Jemmy's plan is to help Prince Brat return, but the prince doesn't want to. The two boys end up fleeing from the villains and along the way they meet a coach and a girl with a talented bear. They are in great danger, though, because they are being pursued by the villains and the whipping boy has been falsely accused of a scheme involving the prince. The prince ends up placing his trust in Jemmy and Jemmy does the same with the prince. They return home and Jemmy does not receive a punishment. I would ask students to predict what this book is about and do a read-aloud with it. In the situations before Horace betrays Jemmy and before he shows true loyalty and friendship, I would ask the students to predict which of the two it will be. I would also ask them to infer why the prince doesn't want to return. I also think this would be a great book to use for a book report.
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