Summary

In Chapter 13, Bat was pleased that his mother put some of his old t-shirts in the skunk’s enclosure because he believed they would help the skunk bond with him. As Bat, Janie, and their mother ate their snack of peanut butter and crackers, Bat wondered aloud if “Stripy,” (81) the name he had chosen for the skunk, would like peanut butter. Mom was concerned that naming the skunk would make Bat too attached to him. Janie complained that it was an obvious name, like Bat’s decision to call a stray calico cat “Patches” (82). Mom warned Janie to be nice, but Bat did not want Janie to know how much she had hurt his feelings. Bat asked Janie what she would name the skunk. Because it was born on Thursday and because they wanted to skunk to be big and strong, Janie suggested...