7th MMGM: Bat and the End of Everything by Elana K. Arnold (interview & giveaway)

Welcome to Day 4 of the 7th Annual March MG Madness! Click here to see the full schedule and links to other days.

Bat and the End of Everything 

(A Boy Called Bat #3) 

By Elana K. Arnold 

March 6, 2019 

Walden Pond Press 

Add on Goodreads 

Bixby Alexander Tam (nicknamed Bat) has been the caretaker for Thor, the best skunk kit in the world... but the last day of third grade is quickly approaching, and Thor is almost ready to be released into the wild. 

The end of school also means that Bat has to say good-bye to his favorite teacher, and he worries about the summer care of Babycakes, their adorable class pet. Not only that, but his best friend is leaving for a long vacation in Canada. 

Summer promises good things, too, like working with his mom at the vet clinic and hanging out with his sister, Janie. But Bat can’t help but feel that everything is coming to an end. 

National Book Award finalist Elana K. Arnold returns with the third story starring an unforgettable boy on the autism spectrum. 

Q1. What three words best describe your book Bat and the End of Everything? 

 Empathy, loving-kindness, pets 

Q2.  Grab a copy of Bat and the End of Everything and answer the following: 

Favorite chapter? Chapter 23, “Family Meeting” 

Favorite page? Page 180, the very end. 

Favorite setting? Bat’s bedroom 

Flip to a random page and give us a 1-2 sentences teaser: 

 The cupcakes were delicious. Bat popped the final bite of his second cupcake into his mouth, appreciating how Janie always managed to apply just the right amount of frosting.  

“You always put just the right amount of frosting on each cupcake,” Bat told Janie, chewing.  

“Thanks, Bat,” Janie said. “That’s a really nice compliment.”  

Q3. What inspired the A Boy Called Bat series? How did the story come to be? 

 This series of stories grew naturally out of the things that fascinate me: animal care; unusual pets; family and sibling relationships; new friendships; social difficulties; neurodiversity; love.  

These are the things that my personal life intersects with constantly; these are the elements of life that form the backbone of each of my days and most of my thoughts. The BAT books are intensely personal. 

Q4. Tell us a bit about your character Bat. What makes him special? What do you love about him? 

 I love everything about Bat: his commitment to animal care; his strengths and his challenges; his particular way of seeing the world. The things that make Bat special are the same sorts of things that make any child—and any person—special. It has been such a privilege to get to know Bat over the writing of this series of three books.  

Q5. What do you love about writing and reading middle-grade lit? 

 Middle grade will always have my heart. These are the books I reach for when I don’t feel well, or when I am sad, or when I need comfort. Middle grade books are timeless.  

Q6. What is your all-time favorite middle-grade book? 

 Harriet the Spy 

Q7. Fill in the blanks: 

I’m really awesome at cuddling animals. 

I’m really embarrassed to admit that I have never had a pet skunk… though I have cuddled several! 

The last great book I read was The Lost Girl by Anne Ursu. 

Elana K. Arnold is the author of books for middle-grade readers and teens. Her middle grade titles include A Boy Called Bat, A 2018 Global Read Aloud Book and Bat and the Waiting Game. Her teen titles include Damsel, a 2019 Michael L. Printz Honor Book and What Girls Are Made Of, a National Book Award and California Book Award Finalist. You can find her online at :

Website * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram 

Win a copy of

Bat and the End of Everything!

The folks at Walden Pond Press have generously offered one copy for one winner.

-US only

-ends 4/5/19

-winner will be emailed and must claim prize within 48 hours

-Word Spelunking is not responsible for lost, damaged, stolen, prizes

a Rafflecopter giveaway

6th MMGM: A Boy Called Bat by Elana K. Arnold (review, interview, giveaway)

Welcome to Day 2 of the 6th Annual March MG Madness, featuring A Boy Called Bat by Elana K. Arnold!

A Boy Called Bat
by Elana K. Arnold

March 14, 2017

Walden Pond Press

Source: ARC from pub for review

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.

Goodreads / Amazon / Indiebound

Bixby Alexander Tam, aka Bat, is a smart, curious, animal loving third-grader, who happens to be on the autism spectrum. When his veterinarian mom brings home a baby skunk, Bat is so excited to help take care of it. And as the weeks go by, Bat decides that he doesn’t want to give the baby skunk, now named Thor, to the skunk rescue people...he wants to keep Thor as a pet. But can Bat convince his mom that he’d be the best skunk caregiver ever, all while trying to understand his classmates and the world around him?

Elana K Arnold’s A Boy Called Bat is a heartfelt and humorous tale about one special boy and his special pet. Aimed toward the younger middle-grade crowd, A Boy Called Bat will inspire, entertain, and captivate.

Arnold has beautifully captured the heart of Bat, whose autism comes with difficulties, but also gives him a wonderfully unique point of view. Young readers will celebrate and appreciate Bat’s differences, but ultimately, they will simply relate to him as he deals with navigating friendships, divorced parents, a complicated sister/brother relationship and more. The bond between Bat and Thor is irresistible and so fun to watch unfold.

Full of tender, funny, and heart-warming moments, A Boy Called Bat is a charming and sweet middle-grade chapter book.

Q1. What three words best describe your book, A Boy Called Bat? 

Charming, quirky, sweet.

Q2. Grab a copy of A Boy Called Bat and answer the following:

Favorite chapter? Chapter 23: Windows

Favorite page? My favorite illustration, drawn by the wonderful Charles Santoso, is on page 54. It is of Babycakes, the class rabbit. Mr. Grayson, Bat’s teacher, has an open-door Babycakes policy.

Favorite setting? Bat’s room, which he keeps just the way he likes: “It had a roll-down bamboo shade and a fine closet full of shelves and a pull-out trundle in case someday a friend came to spend the night. It had a ceiling fan and a reading lamp and a rug with a picture of a train printed on it.”

Flip to a random page and give us a 1-2 sentences teaser: “The skunk’s little pink tongue lapped at the formula. Droplets gathered at the corners of his mouth, and some ran down his chin onto the towel, but most of it made it into the baby skunk. ‘I’m doing it,’ Bat whispered. ‘I’m feeding him.’”

Q3. Who are your favorite middle-grade hero and heroine? What is your favorite middle-grade book?

 Honestly, Bat is my favorite middle grade boy character of all time. I just love him so much. I am so excited he exists, and that the wonderful team of Walden Pond Press love him as much as I do. My current favorite middle-grade female character is probably Harriet the Spy. I love how complicated and bristly she is. As far as a favorite middle grade book… I don’t think I could ever pick just one!

Q4. Why do you think middle-grade lit is so important?

When I think of the books that shaped how I viewed myself and the world around me, I find that they would all be shelved in the middle grade section. Harriet the Spy and From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler reflected my own tendencies to be an observer of the world, a student and researcher. Bridge to Terabitihia gave me a safe place to mourn—Jesse loses a friend, and I had faced the death of a friendship, which shook me deeply. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry and Dragonwings helped me connect with people who came from different places than I did, whose families negotiated the world in different ways than mine. The middle grade years are a time when a kid can really see how we are both individuals and deeply connected to one another. They are nervous years for lots of kids—they were for me—and books were a safe place for me to try on identities, to imagine how things might work out in a variety of situations, and to experiment with the idea of being autonomous. 

Q5. If you were to create and bake a cupcake inspired by A Boy Called Bat, what would it look and taste like, and what would you call it?

Oh, it would have to be something vanilla, since that is Bat’s favorite. And, I think, it would have to be an homage to skunks, since the skunk kit is so central to A Boy Called Bat. I think it would be a vanilla and dark chocolate swirl cupcake, in honor of a skunk’s coloring and pattern, with vanilla cream frosting. I’d call it the Sweet Skunk.

ELANA K. ARNOLD writes books for and about children and teens. She holds a master’s degree in Creative Writing/Fiction from the University of California, Davis where she has taught Creative Writing and Adolescent Literature. A parent and educator living in Huntington Beach, California, Elana is represented by Rubin Pfeffer of Rubin Pfeffer Content. She is a frequent speaker at schools, libraries, and writers’ conferences. Currently, Elana is the caretaker of seven pets, only two of which have fur. Website * Twitter * Facebook

Win a signed copy of A Boy Called Bat!

Walden Pond Press and Elana K. Arnold have generously offered one (1) signed copy for one winner.

-US only

-ends 4/5 17

-winner will be emailed and must claim prize within 48 hours

-Word Spelunking is not responsible for lost, damaged, or stolen prizes

a Rafflecopter giveaway