A Boy Called Bat

“In his room, Bat felt completely comfortable. Here, he knew where everything was. If something was in the wrong place, it was his own fault, because no one messed with his room but him.”

Bat goes to his room to decompress. He has the freedom to arrange his room as he pleases, and his family knows to stay out. This offers him a sense of calm and comfort. The lack of external influence from his family simplifies the space, removing the effect of complex relational concepts, such as blame.

“I’m sorry. Bat, but your drawers were just a mess. Your hats mixed in with pants and sweaters. I don’t know how you find anything.”

Valerie does not understand Bat’s organizational system, and instead of talking to Bat about it, she rearranges his drawers on her own. She is trying to help her son by making his life a bit easier, but the plan backfires (as he has his own system in place). Although she struggles to understand her son, she at least tries, and does not resent Bat for his needs.

“Mom was supposed to be home by five o’clock. But five o’clock came, and Mom did not arrive. By five fifteen, Bat wanted to call the police.”

Bat’s anxiety leads him to perceive threats and catastrophize. He likes having all the information he can to work with, so when his mother is late and he does not know why, he jumps to the conclusion that something must be wrong.

“That was the last straw. Mom was late and Bat was worried and now NO VANILLA YOGURT.”

At the beginning of the story, Bat cannot see beyond his own wants and needs. He does not consider the thoughts and feelings of his family members. As he grows as a character, he becomes more aware of alternate perspectives and can better relate to his family and friends.

“Then he had an awful thought. ‘Is it a baby human?’”

Bat worries that his mother might have brought home a baby human, and is repulsed by the idea. He likes animals and finds them easy to relate to, while he struggles to relate to humans. He also has sensory sensitivities, such as a dislike of loud noises. A human baby would cause Bat discomfort and anxiety.

“Bat was supposed to stay at least twelve inches away from Janie when he talked to her. She didn’t like it when he got too close. There were lots of rules when it came to Janie.”

Valerie does her best to prioritize both Janie’s and Bat’s needs. Janie is neurotypical, but this does not mean that her needs and feelings are less important than Bat’s. To ensure the siblings have a healthy relationship, Valerie establishes simple rules that help the children navigate their relationship.

“‘It’s a kit,’ Bat said, enchanted by the tiny creature, wanting so badly to hold it. ‘A baby skunk.’”

Arnold uses key pieces of dialogue to characterize Bat and show his interests. Bat knows various facts about animals, such as the name for a baby skunk, and earlier in the story, the name of a baby hedgehog, or hoglet.

“But it wasn’t worth it to try to explain to Janie what he’d meant. She usually misunderstood Bat. Most everyone did.”

Bat is stuck in a cycle of misunderstanding. He is often misunderstood, and concedes instead of arguing or explaining. He does not know how to act assertively to stand up for himself, so he lets himself be misjudged. Furthermore, Bat does not consider Janie’s perspective. He acknowledges their misunderstandings but does not seek to resolve them.

“‘I love him,’ Bat said. […]

Mom laughed. ‘Careful, or you might make me jealous,’ she said.”

Valerie’s dialogue shows her dissatisfaction with her son’s lack of affection toward her. She uses humor to both convey and deflect her disappointment. However, Bat does not pick up on the figurative context of his mother’s statement.

“Every-Other Fridays made Bat uncomfortable, like his skin was on too tight.”

Arnold does not share many details regarding the divorce of Bat’s parents. Readers do not know how long the family has been separated, and they do not know the circumstances that led to the divorce. This omission of details, combined with Bat’s negative reaction, allows the reader the freedom to assume the conditions of the divorce. This personalizes the reading experience, as each individual can imagine a scenario that resonates most with them.

“We can help raise the kit this month as a family, as long as you keep on doing the regular stuff, too. School and Dad’s and homework and everything.”

Valerie uses the baby skunk as leverage to help manage Bat’s behavior. She threatens to stop bringing home the skunk unless Bat does what he is supposed to do. She uses a reward—keeping the skunk—to promote responsible behavior, and she uses discipline—the removal of the skunk—to deter irresponsible behavior. Valerie also reveals an ulterior motive for bringing the skunk home: She views caring for the kit as a way to bond with her son.

“Thirty-two eyelets. His own shoes had half as many. Sixteen eyelets, four on each side of each shoe.”

Bat’s anxiety rises when he embarrasses classmate Lucca, and Israel announces it to Mr. Grayson. He has a strong emotional reaction to the situation that did not go as expected. To manage his anxiety, he focuses on something simple and logical—counting eyelets. Bat is characterized as wanting to fit into social situations, and is skilled at implementing coping mechanisms even if they don’t go as planned.

“He liked to do things himself. That way, if something didn’t turn out the way he wanted it to, there was no one else to be mad at, and if he wanted to take it apart and start over, no one could tell him not to.”

Bat’s opinions on working in a group mirror his feelings regarding his room (Important Quote #2). If he can do things by himself, he can avoid complicated social interactions. He is particular, and at this point in the book, he does not want to accommodate the thoughts and feelings of others.

“Bat didn’t like being called ‘Sport’ because he didn’t like playing sports or watching sports. Bat liked being called Bat, because he liked playing with animals and reading about animals and watching videos about animals.”

Bat’s father does not show concern for Bat’s wants. It is unknown whether or not Bat has told his father that he does not like the name “Sport,” so Dad’s intentions are a mystery. The names that Dad uses do show that he does not understand Bat. Dad is characterized as willfully ignorant of his son’s needs, an emotionally distant parent.

“Bat didn’t like chili. Dad knew he didn’t like it. Bat didn’t like mushy foods, except for oatmeal with brown sugar.”

Dad disregards Bat’s food sensitivities, and knowingly makes a dinner he knows Bat does not like. He shows a blatant lack of concern for his son’s needs, and is characterized as uncaring with a “tough love” parenting style.

“Sometimes, when Bat was nervous about something—like right now, when he was nervous about where his mother was and why she was late—he thought about interesting animal facts.”

Bat has several coping mechanisms he uses to help him navigate difficult emotions and situations. He redirects his anxious, unhelpful thoughts and focuses on facts. These facts help him feel calmer and more centered, so that he does not act out with unwanted behaviors.

“Sometimes, if he pushed hard enough, he could change it into her soft voice, the one that let him have his way.”

Although Bat often has difficulties with nuanced social interactions, he does have the capacity to understand them and participate in them. For example, he knows he can sometimes change his mother’s mind if he acts a certain way. In this case, he makes his mother an offer—that he will clean the uneaten food off his plate if she lets him help with Thor. Bat’s understanding of his mother’s tendency to bend and his own willingness to reciprocate show that he is growing and learning to broaden his perspective.

“But Bat liked seeing Mom’s name on the side of the building. It was like she was a celebrity.”

Valerie named her veterinary clinic after herself—“Valerie Tam, DVM.” While Janie thinks the name should be something more fun and creative, Bat likes that the clinic is named after their mother. His preference for the name of the clinic reveals his respect for his mother. He sees her and her work as important. Bat does not see her simply as his mother; he sees her as a person who is deserving of recognition.

“Suddenly Bat wished he had been wearing his earmuffs and that he hadn’t even heard Mom and Janie talking about the play. Sometimes it was just better if Bat kept his thoughts to himself.”

Bat tries to compliment his sister, but unknowingly says something rude. He is upset that he has said the wrong thing while trying to do something kind, and recognizes that some things are best left unsaid. Situations such as this can help him distinguish between intent, tone, and the ways people process them differently.

“He picked up his pencil and forced his brain to focus on the math problems. Most of them were too easy to even bother working out on paper, but he showed all the steps because Mr. Grayson liked it when he showed his work, and Bat liked Mr. Grayson.”

Bat’s relationship with Mr. Grayson is one of the most important relationships in Bat’s life. Mr. Grayson accepts Bat as he is and shows Bat both compassion and respect. He models healthy behaviors, and Bat learns from them. He also learns to extend these behaviors in his other relationships.

“If his parents weren’t divorced, then he wouldn’t have to leave home every other weekend and go to his dad’s dumb apartment. If his parents weren’t divorced, Thor wouldn’t be spending the weekend with Laurence.”

Bat resents his parents’ divorce. The divorce and visits to his father’s apartment disrupt his daily routine. Bat does not feel comfortable at his father’s apartment, as he has not yet adjusted to this new way of life. Furthermore, he is protective of Thor and does not want Laurence taking care of him because he might do it wrong—or worse in his mind, Thor might like Laurence better. This helps characterize Bat as aware of his neurodivergence and insecure because of his differences and his parents’ divorce.

“If I want to know something about a person, I ask. I think you can tell more about people from what they say than from their eyes.”

Valerie tries to connect to her son through nonverbal communication when she asks him to look in her eyes, but Bat is not adept at reading nonverbal cues, including nuanced facial expressions. Bat looks in her eyes anyway, and Valerie accepts Bat’s answer and acknowledges that he has a different way of viewing the world. They have both grown and can better respect each other’s perspectives—and are willing to put in the work to find new ways to relate to each other.

“But he couldn’t take off his skin, so instead he reached into his backpack for his earmuffs and slipped them on. The classroom noise around him faded, and Bat’s skin calmed down.”

Mr. Grayson challenges Bat by making him wait to read the email response from Dr. Jerry Dragoo. Bat is upset and has both a physical and mental response to the stress. However, he manages his anxiety by reducing his sensory input, which helps him calm down. Mr. Grayson recognizes the changes Bat has been going through, and trusts Bat’s abilities to mitigate his stress responses.