A Boy Called Bat

Bat and his older sister, Janie, are home alone after school. Their mother, Valerie, a veterinarian who owns a clinic, goes back to work after dropping the children off at home, leaving Janie in charge. Bat opens the fridge to find a snack and finds that there are no vanilla or lemon yogurts left, and those are the only kinds that he likes.

Bat confronts Janie, and she admits that she ate the last vanilla yogurt. She teases Bat, although she knows she is not supposed to. Bat demands that Janie make him a snack. When she tells him to say “please,” Bat retorts that it is her job to take care of him after school, and “You don’t have to say please to get someone to do their job” (5). Bat gets more upset when Janie sasses back and wants to flap his arms—a self-stimulating behavior. Janie caves and agrees to make him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Bat eats his snack and then goes to his room, which is his “favorite place in the whole world” (6). He can arrange his room how he wants it, and no one else in the house changes it.