Bat and the Doggy Dog World

De: Elana K. Arnold

Bat tries to train an untrainable dog—and fix an unfixable friendship—in the sixth installment of the Schneider Award Honor-winning young middle grade series starring an unforgettable boy on the autism spectrum from National Book Award finalist Elana K. Arnold.

For Bixby Alexander Tam (nicknamed “Bat”), letting go of some things is tougher than letting go of others. For instance, saying goodbye to fourth grade and hello to summer—that’s easy. But watching the friendship break apart between his big sister, Janie, and her best friend, Ezra, is not. Bat can tell Ezra wants to mend things; maybe, if Bat can remind Janie how close they were, she would give Ezra another chance.

Then, Ezra breaks the news that if his boisterous-but-loveable mastiff, Pumpkin, doesn’t improve his behavior, their family will be forced to rehome him. And while Bat isn’t sure if he can help Ezra be a better friend, he might be able to help Ezra be a better dog caretaker—and avoid having to let at least one thing go this summer.