Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures by Kate DiCamillo

Since the Snowpocalypse has hit my city in North Carolina (took four hours to get home), I had some downtime today to read some books. This is the Newberry Award winner for 2014 and I was originally 4^th on the waitlist, but it went by so quickly that the book plopped into my hands and I had to read it as quickly as possible. There were more people waiting of course.

Holy unanticipated occurrences! A cynic meets an unlikely superhero in a genre-breaking new 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 #1 New York Times best-selling author Kate DiCamillo comes a laugh-out-loud story filled with eccentric, endearing characters and featuring an exciting new format—a novel interspersed with comic-style graphic sequences and full-page illustrations, all rendered in black-and-white by up-and-coming artist K.G. Campbell.

First off, the images done by KG Campbell were so cute and perfect for the book. Flora and Ulysses were drawn perfect to what I thought they would be and Flora was so adorable. If I have a daughter, I would want her to be like Flora. Cynical, rational, loves comic books; she would fit perfectly with me and my husband.

Secondly, the story was incredibly sweet. Flora and Ulysses support one another and love each other like I figure a pet and an owner would if they could talk to one another.  I also like that Flora grows as a character to include more friends in her life. Kind of gives me hope for my literary fictional daughter to have a great life with more friends.

I will say that I was not a fan of the mother, but then again she is Ulysses’ arch-nemesis. It was hard to even tell the fact that she loved her daughter until the end. I’m with you Flora, go live with Dad. The side characters were pretty funny, but this book is really more about Flora becoming a believer and geting over being a cynic.

I highly recommend this book for reluctant readers of all ages. The graphics feel like a comic book, but Flora and Ulysses is not even close to a graphic novel so parents can rejoice when their kids want to read it.