Hello, sometimes-friendly neighborhood autistic person here!

This is an adorable, humanizing, and mostly-accurate representation of an autistic third-grader protagonist. Even though the author is non-autistic, it’s clear that she did a lot of research from autistic people and didn’t fall into many of the tropes so common in media with autistic characters- Bat isn’t reduced to a list of behaviors or a caricature of the DSM criteria, he’s portrayed as a fully dynamic character rather than an emotionless math savant with no understanding of what a relationship is, and the narrative actually centers on Bat’s experience of the world and not the perceived struggles of his family. Most importantly, Bat is given space to just be a happy kid living his life- it’s obvious that he faces challenges from living in a world not built for him, but his daily life is portrayed as joyful if not sometimes annoying, rather than the tragedy narrative the autism industrial complex wants to have us believe.

I especially like the ending- it doesn’t frame “becoming less autistic” or “learning ‘social skills’” or “disassociating from special interests” as positive character development, like we see in so many autism narratives. Rather, the resolution of the story is Bat’s sister being nicer to him, Bat getting to keep the skunk for a bit longer, and him making a friend to share his special interests with.

My one critique was that the words “autism” or “autistic” weren’t mentioned at all. I think it’s definitely important that representation is explicit, in a society that devalues all ways of existing that don’t conform to the ablenormative capitalist mold. Especially in children’s literature- if it’s taboo to say that a certain character is autistic, are we really destigmatizing it for kids, or are we simply teaching that social “weirdness” is fine as long as it’s not given a name?

Overall tho, I really enjoyed this and am excited to read the second book, which I hope is more explicit about Bat’s neurology. ( )

This was one of the best books with an autistic character that I've read! The fact that Bat is autistic is never explicitly mentioned which worked very well. It doesn't focused on his symptoms or his lack of friends, or therapy, his quirks and experiences are all just a part of the story and a part of him. The book is a fun, well-written read that I wish I'd had as a 3rd/4th grader. #actuallyautstic ( )

Really nice book -- gentle story, no lecturing, interesting skunk information, and a supportive family. Very nice. ( )

The skunk kit Thor is growing up, but Bat can't bear to think about releasing him into the wild. Bat's sister Janie wins the part of the Queen in her school's production of Alice in Wonderland, and her rehearsal schedule means that she can't watch Bat after school, so Bat goes to his friend Israel's house. Bat and Israel have their ups and downs, but declare and act on their best-friendship - and when Bat makes a big mistake that requires an apology, Israel knows just what to do.

A worthy sequel to A Boy Called Bat. ( )