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A Boy Called Bat

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A Boy Called Bat 
By Elana K. Arnold
Pictures by Charles Santoso
Walden Pond Press, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2017. 198 p.

Bixby Alexander Tam is called Bat (for his initials and due to the fact that he really, really likes animals). One day Bat’s mom (a veterinarian) brings home a baby skunk kit that she needs to take care of until it can be taken to a wild-animal shelter. Bat is smitten and he knows that he has a lot to do in order to prove to his mom that they should keep the kit forever. Even though Bat is the star of the show in this beautifully written story, there are a few other details that make this book memorable. First of all, Bat is somewhere on the autism spectrum. He wears earmuffs to keep loud noises out, he sometimes sucks the front of his shirt if he is upset or thinking, he processes everything very literally, etc. The thing that I love about this is that Bat is Bat and how he thinks and acts is just part of who he is and is not the main focus of the story. Second, Bat’s parents are divorced. Every-other-weekend Bat and his sister go and spend time with their dad. Again, this isn’t the main part of the story. It is just a normal part of Bat’s life. I love that these major bits are the background of the story and that Bat and his coming to love Thor (the name of the skunk kit since it was found on Thursday) is the story—the other parts are treated just as normal bits of life. This is a good book, and for those readers who like audio books, it is a good audio as well.
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