Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures

Flora Belle Buckham's life changes when a squirrel is sucked through her neighbor's vacuum cleaner and comes out with superpowers - not the least of which is being able to write.

A cute story of friendship - not just with the squirrel, whom she names Ulysses - and a quirky girl trying to find her way in the world. Flora is a self-proclaimed cynic, but that doesn't mean she isn't hurt by her romance-writing mother's misunderstanding her, and the arc of the story has much to do with Flora's relationships with her divorced parents. The mix of prose, illustrations, and comic book pages lends itself well to the story and reminds readers of Flora and her dad's love of comics. I tend to like Kate DiCamillo's books; she has a distinct style that show more clearly many people enjoy, as her books are regularly on the Newbery Award and Honor lists. Maybe I'm a bit of a cynical adult myself for not liking the story more. I don't know why I would believe any more in a person getting superpowers from being bit by a radioactive spider than I would a squirrel getting sucked through a vacuum cleaner. As one of the characters Flora meets says, "There is much more beauty in the world if I believe such a thing is possible." show less

Totally adorable novel on the surface, but deeply existential on the inside. Classic DiCamillo. Richly nuanced, exceptional vocabulary, and absolutely endearing characters. Many literary nuggets to ponder over, concerning life's deepest searching for meaning, in believing in the possibility of impossible things and more:
Normalcy is an illusion, of course.
Maybe there would be donuts, giant donuts, for breakfast.

Holy unanticipated occurrences! A cynic meets an unlikely superhero in a genre-breaking novel by master storyteller Kate DiCamillo.

It begins, as the best superhero stories do, with a tragic accident that has unexpected consequences. The squirrel never saw the vacuum cleaner coming, but self-described cynic Flora Belle Buckman, who has read every issue of the comic book Terrible Things Can Happen to You!, is the just the right person to step in and save him. What neither can predict is that Ulysses (the squirrel) has been born anew, with powers of strength, flight, and misspelled poetry -- and that Flora will be changed too, as she discovers the possibility of hope and the promise of a capacious heart. From best-selling author Kate show more DiCamillo comes a laugh-out-loud story filled with eccentric, endearing characters and featuring an exciting format -- a novel interspersed with comic-style graphic sequences and full-page illustrations, all rendered in black-and-white by artist K. G. Campbell. show less

What's great about this book is the pure joy that the author clearly had while writing. Although the story is probably a little advanced for those below middle school--my sixth grader loved it so much he bought copies for several of his friends for Christmas. And what isn't there to love? A poetry-loving super squirrel and his sidekick 11-year-old cynic? Seriously, the book's quirky humor and style isn't for everyone (see negative reviews), but those it works for will be treated with a book that plays of common tropes with an interesting exploration of the power of hope (well-packaged for juvenile fiction).

Aha! An amazing book, hidden in a shape and form that you might at first reject. The book suggests that everyone is weird and quirky, that love is simultaneously very hard and very easy, and that redemption is available. And that a lot of life’s problems would be helped with a good snack and a good cry. I believe all of these things, so the book worked for me. I didn’t mind gimmicks/unrealistic depiction of youth angst/neatness/etc... this is a Roald Dahl-inspired story that is better than Roald Dahl. My favorite unanswered question: Why does Tyrone call William Spiver “Billy”? It was very interesting to leave that out—to let the reader sit without the answer, so that maybe they could feel the answer.

While Flora is busy reading comics and practicing being a cynic upstairs in her room, she happens to notice through her window that her neighbor is vacuuming her front yard, and if that isn't alarming enough, the vacuum is about to swallow a squirrel. Before she can race down to rescue the squirrel from the Ulysses super vacuum, the squirrel is consumed in one gulp. Flora's comics have taught her many things though, one of which is CPR, which she tries on the little squirrel. It works! The squirrel is born anew with superhero powers, and dubbed "Ulysses," after the super vacuum that transformed him. This 2014 Newbery Award winner is a fun read.

I found this book to be a perfect combination of silliness and odd characters with a treatise on the cynicism of young people. I found the story of a young cynic taking charge of a superhero squirrel to be fresh and original. While the author is not very subtle about giving Flora reasons to hope and to love, I cannot help but leave this book feeling wonderful. I especially loved the strange old woman who clearly acts the part of sage. This book has sweet illustrations that drew my five year old in, we read the book in two days. One of my favorite Newbery winners.