Book Review- Award Winner

Chapter book for third to fifth graders. "The Whipping Boy," by Sid Fleischman. New Newbery Medal winner. A short chapter book. Once again here's a book I've known to be on the reading requirement list in a grammar school. It's a fast read and has a good plot. It takes place about two hundred and fifty years ago, when princes and kings ruled Europe. A poor boy named Jemmy is the whipping boy for a bratty prince. In this kingdom whenever the prince misbehaves the whipping boy gets the punishment. Can't say I'd like it one lick. And in fact Jemmy in the beginning would like the Prince to get what he deserves. However, nice boy that he is Jemmy changes his mind later when the two boys run away after being taken hostage. Jemmy feels sorry when the Prince is whipped by a cutthroat. Because he knows how it feels.