"It was common knowledge that the woods behind my house in Milfordwere teeming with the most venomous of vipers. MonstrousCopperheads lurked behind every rock. Hideous Water Moccasinsslithered through every creek. Big snakes. Poisonous snakes. All bandedtogether in an insidious reptilian conspiracy, dedicated to theelimination of ten-year-old boys from the face of the earth."Connecticut, 1952. School is out for the summer. In a time beforecomputers, X-boxes, and iPods, the neighborhood kids have to get intotrouble the old-fashioned way-using their imagination.Ten-year-old Sonny Boy gets the bright idea for a practical jokeinvolving his mother and a snake. He fears the loathsome reptiles morethan anything in the world, but he figures it will be a great gag that willmake him a hero to his buddies, Charlie and Pudgy-and to a certaingirl. But three bullies harass the boys at every turn, and a battle of witsensues. Nothing, however, diminishes Sonny Boy"s infatuation for, orattempts to impress, the lovely Mary Lou.During that hot summer, Sonny Boy befriends an octogenarian namedOtto, whose wisdom facilitates his introduction to adolescence-and afinal showdown with a snake.