Fantasy kids book about a boy who finds a talking bat (the animal) in the woods?

Question

I'm pretty sure it’s the first of a series. I started reading it a few years back and got bored and returned it to my school's library (which was obviously a mistake because I think about it all the time now and wish to continue reading).

All I remember is a boy who lives in a little subsection of his town with his family, who are herbologists, I think? Like they do magic with plants? I vaguely remember a scene of him trying to make a potion or something and his dad getting mad at his inexperience, saying he’s not ready yet. I’m pretty sure he also gets sent into the woods at one point with his older cousin to find an herb; some stuff happens, and he wakes up with a bat in his room? Along the lines of that. It’s very vague in my memory. :’(

From what I remember, the cover was like a boy on a stone path with a bat in his bag and he’s like looking behind him towards trees or a forest, etc. Please help!

Answer 1

I guess it's Forest of Wonders (2016) by Linda Sue Park, which is the first book in the Wing & Claw series.

The story follows a boy named Raffa, who comes from a family of apothecaries. Raffa discovers a rare red vine in the Forest of Wonders and uses it to heal a wounded bat. As a result, the bat gains the ability to talk and becomes Raffa's companion.

Raffa Santana has always loved the mysterious Forest of Wonders. For a gifted young apothecary like him, every leaf has the potential to unleash a kind of magic. If only Raffa's cautious father would allow him to experiment freely, Raffa knows he could discover miracles.

When an injured bat crashes into Raffa's life, he invents a cure from a rare crimson vine that he finds deep in the forest. The powers of the vine are stronger than Raffa could have imagined. His remedy saves the animal but also transforms it into something much more than an ordinary bat, with far-reaching consequences. Raffa's experiments lead him away from home to the forbidding city of Gilden, where troubling discoveries make him question who he can trust . . . and whether exciting botanical inventions, including his own, might actually threaten the very creatures of the forest he wants to protect.