Bat and the End of Everything Blog Tour

There are fictional characters so vividly portrayed, they became a part of the here and now.  They remind you of the diverse nature of human characteristics.  They remind you we all have struggles; some more visible than others.  They remind you to put your best self forward whenever you can because we need each other.  We are here to make every day better than the previous day.

On March 14, 2017 readers met a character named Bat, short for Bixby Alexander Tam, in the first book of a trilogy titled A Boy Called BAT (Walden Pond Press) written by Elana K. Arnold with illustrations by Charles Santoso.  It was and still is unthinkable to not feel affection for this boy, his family and his friends.  Every chapter pulled (pulls) us deeper into his world.



One year later on March 27, 2018 Bat and the Waiting Game (Walden Pond Press) continues the story of this irresistible child and his best animal friend, a skunk kit called Thor.  In this book Bat has to navigate big changes in his normal routine.  His sister, Janie, has won a part in the school play.

Her practices on Tuesdays and Thursdays mean Bat can't stay at home alone which translates into less time with Thor AND he must go to his friend's house after school.  Bat really does like Israel, but this new place is an adjustment for him.  Strengthening the boys' friendship is a school project.  They are building and planting a vegetable garden for Thor.

At the center of Bat's world is his relationship with Thor.  The skunk helps him deepen ties with his family and friends, figuring out challenges through comparisons. As the night of the musical gets closer Bat can hardly tolerate any more waiting for everything to go back to the way it was before Janie got the part.  An unexpected turn of events has disastrous results, but support of friends and family help Bat find a perfect silver lining.  Here are a couple of passage from this second title.

Bat liked it when he could concentrate on just one thing, and he liked it even better when the one thing he was concentrating on was something he loved, like taking care of Thor.
With his thumb, Bat gently stroked the white strip of fur that ran up Thor's snout and over his head.  Thor closed his shiny black eyes and it looked to Bat like he grinned, short milky whisker hairs curving upward.

Bat had never been in such an interesting vehicle.  Mom drove a perfectly average station wagon, and Dad had an uncomfortable tight sports car, with a hump in the middle of the back instead of a seat.
Israel's dad's truck was totally different.  It was like seeing a Great Dane after a lifetime of Chihuahuas.  It was the ostrich of the car world: impressively large.  (This comparison further illustrates Bat's love of animals.)

"I give up," Bat said.  "What's your favorite thing about baseball?"
"It's this," Dad said, relaxing in his seat and putting his arm around Bat's shoulders again.  "This, right here.  Sitting next to someone I love, having a snack and something to drink, enjoying the outside air together.  Spending time together.  Being with you."
Bat could point out to Dad that they could do most of these things back at the apartment, or at the park.  It didn't have to be at a baseball game.  Technically, Dad's argument was flawed.  But instead of pointing this out, Bat paid attention to the warmth and weight of Dad's arm across his shoulders.  He pinched off some cotton candy and popped it into his mouth, enjoying the way it changed from fluff into melting sweetness.  He looked out across the field, not trying to keep track of the players or the score.  Instead he tried to melt a little, like the cotton candy, and just be happy to be right there at the game with his dad.


Another year has passed.  Bat and the End of Everything (Walden Pond Press, March 26, 2019) written by Elana K. Arnold with illustrations by Charles Santoso begins with uncertainty for Bat and for readers.  Thor is growing and thriving under Bat's care.  The time to release him back into the wild is growing nearer. 

Chapter 1
An Offer

How do you say good-bye to a friend?
That's what Bixby Alexander Tam (known to everyone as Bat) was thinking about, sitting with Babycakes, the class rabbit, in the pen at the back of Mr. Grayson's class.  It was the first Monday in June.  In four days, the school year would end, and Bat would have to say good-bye.

Third grade will be finished.  Babycakes will no longer be his classroom pet.  Babycakes will be staying with another classmate for the summer.  Bat's best friend, Israel, is going to Canada for weeks to stay with a cousin.  Everything certain in Bat's world is changing.  The unknown makes him very anxious.  Every time anyone mentions Thor going to live in the wild, Bat changes the thread of the conversation.  As Thor grows so does the dread in Bat's heart. 

On the last day of school, Bat's dad picks him up and Janie at her school.  It's an Every-Other-Friday which means they spend the weekend with their dad.  As if there aren't enough shifts in Bat's life, his dad has a surprise which upsets Janie and puzzles Bat. 

Once summer vacation starts, Bat is spending the days with his mother at her vet clinic and working with her assistant, Laurence.  Bat is thrilled with this arrangement.  He gets to work with animals and have Thor close to him all day.

As the summer progresses there is a bit of alarm with Babycakes and her caregiver, a revealing talk with Janie, Bat and their dad, unexpected generosity by Janie, a first on mail day and a hard day for Bat which further endears readers to the bond between this boy and the skunk.  Chapter by chapter a gentle tension grows as we know Bat is going to have to part with Thor.  At the close of the last chapter in this book, and of the trilogy, readers will be totally and emotionally moved.


With Elana K. Arnold's writing readers are drawn to her stories and their characters.  Her use of language paints pictures as realistic as a photograph.  Her understanding of human nature, friendship, family dynamics, the bonds we develop with animals and of a child on the autism spectrum is what connects us to this story.  The conversations between the characters and Bat's thought processes are remarkable.  Here are a few passages.

Whether he liked it or not, summer was coming.  The warm weather, the end of school, even how big Thor was getting---all of it meant that summer was pretty much here already.  And there was nothing Bat could do to stop it.
He couldn't make time slow down.  He couldn't make Thor stay small.  Sitting in the back of Mom's station wagon, being driven home, Bat felt uncomfortably aware of how many things were out of his control.
"What would you like to eat for dinner?" Mom asked.  She turned on her blinker and steered them down Plum Lane, their street, toward their house in the middle of the block.
"Macaroni and cheese," Bat said decisively.  "And cupcakes for dessert."
"Okay," Mom said. "Maybe you and Janie can make the cupcakes while I work on the macaroni and cheese."
Bat nodded.  He felt better.  He wished everything was as easy to figure out as what to have for dinner.

"When I grow up and become a vet," Bat said, "maybe we could both work here.  And we could put a second hook on the wall, and we could hang our coats next to each other's, and it wouldn't matter who wore which coat, because we would both be Dr. Tam, DVM."
Mom's fingers were buttoning her coat, but they stopped when Bat spoke.  She reached over and put a hand gently on top of his head, a warm soft weight that Bat liked.  "There's nothing that would make me happier," she said.
Bat had his mom's warm hand on his head, and Thor's carrier in his hand, and a whole day of helping at the vet clinic in front of him.  He took a deep breath of lavender-peppermint, and he felt wonderful.


For this post I'm working with an ARC but nevertheless, the illustrations in black and white by Charles Santoso throughout the title further engage readers in the story, and to Bat, Thor and the other characters.  Each image coincides with memorable moments in the narrative.  The facial expressions on the characters, particularly their eyes, convey moods and emotions candidly.  Most of them are smaller but there are several full-page pictures.

One of my many favorite illustrations is of Bat and Thor after Bat has a particularly hard day.  Exhausted Bat holds Thor in his arm as he curls up on his side on his bed.  Tears start to fall, and Thor gently licks them from Bat's face.  They fall asleep together.  This is the picture Charles Santoso draws for us.  I nearly started to cry at the tenderness depicted. 


This book, Bat and the End of Everything written by Elana K. Arnold with pictures by Charles Santoso, is a beautiful story of a boy and his beloved skunk.  It's a portrait of love; the love of a child for an animal and the love of others for this child and his skunk.  I highly recommend this title for your professional and personal collections.

To learn more about Elana K. Arnold and Charles Santoso and their other work, please follow the links attached to their names to access their websites.  Elana K. Arnold has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  Charles Santoso has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  At the publisher's website you can read a sample.  Here is a link to an extensive educator's guide.


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.




BLOG TOUR STOPS

Nerdy Book Club----------------------------March 26
Kirsti Call------------------------------------March 27
Read Now Sleep Later----------------------March 30
Bluestocking Thinking----------------------April 1
The Book Monsters--------------------------April 2
Educate*Empower* Inspire* . . .Teach---April 3
Librarian's Quest----------------------------April 4
Novel Novice
Unleashing Readers
Lit Couch Lou--------------------------------April 5

Diving Toward The Right Choice

When you've lived in a state like Michigan filled with lakes and rivers your entire life, learning to swim is a necessity.  For some swimming on the water is much easier than it is for others.  Those who struggle with this might find swimming under water more enjoyable.  It's an entirely different experience.

Using a mask, snorkel and fins you can explore between the surface and the depths.  If you make the choice to forego the snorkel, it's as if you are actually one of the many inhabitants of this world.  Your lungs will consistently remind you to seek the surface and breathe.  The Boy And The Whale (Roaring Brook Press, November 21, 2017) written and illustrated by Mordicai Gerstein is about a child of the sea faced with a difficult decision.

Every day, I loved to watch the sun rise out of the sea.  

No matter how many sunrises you've seen, no two are rarely alike. A boy greeting the sea and sun one morning is greatly surprised at what he sees.  A large something is drifting on the surface of the water.  His father quickly decides it's a whale.

Nearing the giant animal in their boat, both the boy and his father are distressed but for different reasons.  The whale is tangled in a net.  Papa wants to save their fishing net, a means for them to make a living and survive.  His son wants to save the whale, if it's alive.

As father and son dive into the water and swim around the whale, the boy recalls nearly drowning when he was caught in a net.  Their net is ruined.  Just when the boy can't hold his breath another second the whale blinks its eye open.

As they head back to shore, Papa has his mind on one thing, finding another net.  Once there he leaves his son, advising him to not attempt saving the nearly dead animal.  Remembering how he felt snared in the woven ropes, the boy makes the only choice he can.  He heads back out to the whale.

It's an enormous task for one small boy, a boy who has to breathe.  He works with his small knife, cutting and diving and cutting and diving.  How much time has passed?  Is time standing still?  Finally standing in his boat,  the silent sea stretches before the boy.  An immense being leaps from the water and plunges down again, over and over, pure bliss filling the boy, the sea, the air and the day.


Told in the first person by the boy, Mordicai Gerstein weaves together a simple but beautiful blend of thoughts and conversations.  The sincerity of the boy's musings, the word choices Gerstein makes, takes readers immediately into the story.  It begins with the first sentence.  Even though we can't watch the sun rise out of the sea, if the clouds are gone we see a sunrise regardless of where we are. We may never know a life like this boy's life but we are connected to his heart.  Here is a passage.

The whale's eye was as big as my head.
It seemed to see me.
And then it blinked!
And I had to . . .


When you open the dust jacket you are treated to an entire image extending from the left page edge to the right page edge. (I am working with an F & G.) The size of the whale compared to that of the boy and his boat is astounding.  In viewing this illustration you get a sincere sense of the extent of the whale's problem and the job facing the boy.

On the title page just a sliver of pink is tinting the horizon as smoky clouds frame the upper right and left of the scene.  Mountains spike up and down beneath the clouds on the left.  The sea spreads across the remainder of the page reflecting the retreating darkness.  Gentle waves wash upon the sandy shore and against the family's boat.

A page turn reveals the verso and first page and a spectacular sunrise on the sea.  The boy stands on the shore noticing the large thing in the water caught in a ray of the sun.  Mordicai Gerstein shifts his picture sizes, two together as if in a photograph album, single pages, double pages and two pictures on a single page.  He even has two vertical visuals inviting the turning of the book.

His paintings are loosely framed in wide strokes of yellow, green and a wash of sea blue colors.  Other pictures extend page edge to page edge.  Through the facial expressions of the characters and the placement of elements in his artwork, the emotions found in this story leave the page and envelope us.

One of my many favorite illustrations is a close-up of the boy, Abelardo, working with his knife to cut away the net.  He is right next to the whale whose single eye is losing all signs of life.  The look on Abelardo's face as he holds the net in one hand and the knife in the other hand is of grim determination.  It's as if he knows he has to repay the saving of his life with the saving of this whale's life.


A part of the original list at The Horn Book, Calling Caldecott, The Boy And The Whale written and illustrated by Mordicai Gerstein reminds us of the mastery of this author illustrator.  In this tale we are reminded of the fragility of life but also the value in taking care of each other.  The final conversation of Papa and Abelardo will resonate with readers long after the book is finished and it will prompt them to read it multiple times.  I highly recommend this title for your professional and personal collections.  I think it would pair nicely with Trapped! A Whale's Rescue by Robert Burleigh with illustrations by Wendell Minor.

To discover more about Mordicai Gerstein and his other work, please follow the link attached to his name to access his website.  At the publisher's website you can view some of the stunning interior pages. In a November 4, 2016 chat with Roger Sutton at The Horn Book, Mordicai Gerstein talks about his current book release but you also gain insight into his entire process for each book and his life dedicated to making picture books.  I hope you enjoy this video below.  It uses this title frequently.