Philip begins his summer in a bad mood.  His mother insists he clean his room. But when Philip allows Leon, the clumsy jinx-boy of the neighborhood, to help, it sends Philip and his best friend Emery off on the wildest summer adventure they’ve ever had. Missing jewelry, stolen pants, a crazy aunt, and secret trips to the police station keep Philip and Emery hopping until the night when it all explodes!

“You never know. Sometimes people like to see the person they gave a gift to using the gift. My aunt gave me a computer game for my birthday. Dumbest game ever. Something about sheep jumping over bushes and turning into puffy white clouds. She kept making me play it so she could watch. I think she’s kind of crazy, too. Not as crazy as your aunt, but still crazy. She kept pointing to the screen and saying that’s a ewe.            

“That’s a-you? Is your aunt Italian?”            

“Italian? What? No. You crazy? She kept pointing at the screen and saying that’s a ewe.”            

“How could that be you? How are you in the game?”            

“I wasn’t in the game.”            

“But she said you were?”            

“No, she didn’t say I was in the game. She said that sheep’s a ewe.”            

“There. She said it again. How could you be in the game?” Philip said, his voice rising. “How could you be a sheep or a puffy white cloud?”            

“I’m not a sheep or a puffy white cloud. I’m wasn’t in the game,” Emery yelled back. “She said a ewe’s a sheep.”            

“Me? Now I’m in the game? Me? I’m no sheep. What are you talking about?”            

“Not you. You aren’t a sheep. A ewe’s a sheep.”          

“How can I not be a sheep, but I’m a sheep? Emery, why do you always talk like this? You never make sense.”            

“I’m telling you something you don’t know. A ewe’s a sheep.”            

“And I’m telling you something I do know. I’m not a sheep.”            

“I know you’re not a sheep, but a ewe is."            

“I’m not but I is? Now you can’t even speak English. And why would your aunt think you were a sheep for Pete’s sake?”            

“She didn’t think I was a sheep for Pete’s sake! What is wrong with you? She kept pointing at the sheep and saying that’s a ewe. She was pointing at a girl sheep. The name for a girl sheep is a ewe. A ram is a boy sheep. My aunt kept pointing and saying ‘That’s a ewe.’   She wasn’t saying that’s you… me.”            

“That’s you…me,” Philip mumbled and put his hand to his forehead. He took a deep breath. “Can we change the subject?”            

“Sure, if you want.”            

“Good.”            

“Baaaaaad.”            

Philip glared at his friend.            

Emery smiled. “I didn’t say baaaaad. A ewe said it.”