Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures

by Kate DiCamillo (Author) K G Campbell (Illustrator)

Reading Level: 4th − 5th Grade

Winner of the 2014 Newbery Medal 

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 format -- a novel interspersed with comic-style graphic sequences and full-page illustrations, all rendered in black-and-white by artist K. G. Campbell.

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ALA/Booklist

Starred Review
Newbery-winner DiCamillo is a master storyteller not just because she creates characters who dance off the pages and plots, whether epic or small, that never fail to engage and delight readers. Her biggest strength is exposing the truths that open and heal the human heart. She believes in possibilities and forgiveness and teaches her audience that the salt of life can be cut with the right measure of love.

Kirkus

Starred Review
Original, touching and oh-so-funny tale starring an endearingly implausible superhero and a not-so-cynical girl.

None

Beneath the basic superhero-squirrel-friend plot, DiCamillo imbues this novel with emotion by focusing on larger life issues such as loss and abandonment, acceptance of difference, loneliness, love, overcoming fears, and the complexity of relationships. She also adds plenty of warmth and humor throughout... This little girl and squirrel and their heartwarming tale could melt even the most hardened archnemesis's heart.

Publishers Weekly

Starred Review

Newbery Medalist DiCamillo and illustrator Campbell meld prose with comics sequences in a broad comedy tinged with sadness. Bitter about her parents' divorce, Flora Buckman has withdrawn into her favorite comic book, The Amazing Incandesto! and memorized the advisories in its ongoing bonus feature, Terrible Things Can Happen to You! She puts those life-saving tips into action when a squirrel is swallowed whole by a neighbor's new vacuum cleaner, the Ulysses Super-Suction Multi-Terrain 2000X. Flora resuscitates the squirrel, christens him after the vacuum, and witnesses a superhero-like transformation: Ulysses is now uber-strong, can fly, and composes poetry. Despite supremely quirky characters and dialogue worthy of an SAT prep class, there's real emotion at the heart of this story involving two kids who have been failed by the most important people in their lives: their parents. It's into this profound vacuum that Ulysses really flies, demonstrating an unconditional love for his rescuer, trumped only perhaps by his love for food and a desire "to make the letters on the keyboard speak the truth of his heart." Ages 10-up. Author's agent: Holly McGhee, Pippin Properties. Illustrator's agent: Lori Nowicki, Painted Words. (Sept.)

Copyright 2013 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

School Library Journal

Starred Review

Gr 4-6--Flora, obsessed with superhero comics, immediately recognizes and gives her wholehearted support to a squirrel that, after a near-fatal brush with a vacuum cleaner, develops the ability to fly and type poetry. The 10-year-old hides her new friend from the certain disapproval of her self-absorbed, romance-writer mother, but it is on the woman's typewriter that Ulysses pours out his creations. Like DiCamillo's The Magician's Elephant (Candlewick, 2009), this touching piece of magical realism unfolds with increasing urgency over a mere few days and brings its somewhat caricatured, old-fashioned characters together into what becomes a supportive community for all. Campbell's rounded and gentle soft-penciled illustrations, at times in the form of panel art furthering the action, wonderfully match and add to the sweetness of this oddball story. Rife with marvelously rich vocabulary reminiscent of the early superhero era (e.g., "Holy unanticipated occurrences!") and amusing glimpses at the world from the point of view of Ulysses the supersquirrel, this book will appeal to a broad audience of sophisticated readers. There are plenty of action sequences, but the novel primarily dwells in the realm of sensitive, hopeful, and quietly philosophical literature.--Rhona Campbell, Georgetown Day School, Washington, DC

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

In "Flora and Ulysses," longtime fans will find a happy marriage of Mercy Watson's warmth and wackiness and Edward Tulane's gentle life lessons. In Flora, they will find a girl worth knowing, and one they will remember.
—The New York Times Book Review 

Masterfully mixed with adventure, mystery, and laughs, this title could be used as an entertaining class read-aloud.
—Library Media Connection 

Eccentric characters, snappy prose and the fantastical plot give this delightful novel a giddy, over-the-top patina, but the core is big and hopeful, contemplative and bursting with heart. No small feat, even for a superhero like DiCamillo.
—Shelf Awareness 

Full of Ms. DiCamillo's dry, literate wit and bursting every so often into action-packed comic-strip sequences illustrated by K.G. Campbell... [a] funny, eccentric novel.
—The Wall Street Journal 

Kate DiCamillo
Kate DiCamillo is the author of The Tale of Despereaux which received the Newbery Medal; Because of Winn-Dixie, which received a Newbery Honor; The Tiger Rising, which was named a National Book Award Finalist; and the Mercy Watson stories.

Bagram Ibatoulline graduated from the State Academic Institute of Arts in Moscow and has illustrated numerous picture books, including The Nightingale and Hana in the Time of Tulips. Born in Russia, he now lives in New Jersey, USA.
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9780763687649
Lexile Measure
520
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Candlewick Press (MA)
Publication date
September 13, 2016
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV037000 - Juvenile Fiction | Fantasy & Magic
JUV001000 - Juvenile Fiction | Action & Adventure
JUV008020 - Juvenile Fiction | Comics & Graphic Novels | Superheroes
JUV013020 - Juvenile Fiction | Family | Marriage & Divorce
Library of Congress categories
Squirrels
Superheroes
National Book Awards
Nominee 2013 - 2013
Newbery Medal
Winner 2014 - 2014
Parents Choice Awards (Fall) (2008-Up)
Gold Medal Winner 2013 - 2013
E.B. White Read Aloud Award
Winner 2014 - 2014
Bluebonnet Awards
Nominee 2015 - 2015
Christopher Awards
Winner 2014 - 2014
Kentucky Bluegrass Award
Nominee 2015 - 2015
Nene Award
Nominee 2015 - 2015
Capitol Choices: Noteworthy Books for Children and Teens
Recommended 2014 - 2014
North Carolina Children's Book Award
Nominee 2015 - 2015
Alabama Camellia Award
Nominee 2014 - 2015
Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award
Nominee 2015 - 2015
Buckeye Children's Book Award
Nominee 2014 - 2014
Midwest Booksellers' Choice Award
Winner 2014 - 2014
Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award
Nominee 2015 - 2015
Volunteer State Book Awards
Nominee 2015 - 2016
Young Reader's Choice Award
Nominee 2016 - 2016
Nutmeg Book Award
Nominee 2016 - 2016
Massachusetts Children's Book Award
Nominee 2015 - 2016
Garden State Children's Book Awards
Nominee 2016 - 2016

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