Title: A Boy Called Bat
Series: A Boy Called Bat
Author: Elana K. Arnold
Release Date: March 14, 2017
Publisher: Walden Pond Press
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Rating: ★★★★★
Synopsis:
The first book in a funny, heartfelt, and irresistible young middle grade series starring an unforgettable young boy on the autism spectrum.
For Bixby Alexander Tam (nicknamed Bat), life tends to be full of surprises—some of them good, some not so good. Today, though, is a good-surprise day. Bat’s mom, a veterinarian, has brought home a baby skunk, which she needs to take care of until she can hand him over to a wild-animal shelter.
But the minute Bat meets the kit, he knows they belong together. And he’s got one month to show his mom that a baby skunk might just make a pretty terrific pet.
My Review:
What a beautiful children's story about a boy on the autism spectrum! My first book by this author.
Ever since I bought it, my little sister, who read it for her school before, got excited and kept nagging me to read it, telling me how much I would love it. But, as I'm usually a plan reader, I kept delaying it until my mood-reader side eventually kicked in and I decided to pick it up despite having a lot of books that I still need to catch up on... how glad I finally did!
Elana K. Arnold's A Boy Called Bat was such a beautiful story with the perfect autism rep I've ever seen! As someone who's been diagnosed with minor autism at a young age, there were some things I found myself relating to Bat about.
I LOVED Bat. He is so cute, and a loveable character that readers would love.
I may not be crazy about animals, especially skunks, but it was nice learning about them; I was impressed with how Mrs. Arnold uses her knowledge of animals in this book. Also, I found it really cool how she actually used a real-life world skunk expert in this book!
Loved the illustrations.
Overall, I found A Boy Called Bat to be such a cute story of first friendship and the most unlikely pet. Would definitely recommend to young readers.