Flora and Ulysses

BIBLIOGRAPHY

DiCamillo, K. (2013).  Flora And Ulysses. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press. ISBN# 9780763660406.

 

PLOT SUMMARY

Flora got the surprise of a lifetime...and it all started with a vacuum cleaner that the neighbor Mrs. Tickham had received.  This super powerful vacuum cleaner sucks up everything in sight including a squirrel.  This squirrel gains super powers like the ability to learn to type and write poems.  Flora rescues the squirrel and names him Ulysses.  Flora is thrilled with her new friend but her mom is less than excited about this creature.  This could not have happened at a better time for Flora's parents got a divorce and  Flora missed her dad tremendously.  She had a special understanding with her dad and they shared a love for comic book series, The Illuminated Adventures of the Amazing Incandesto!  Flora felt lonely and unsure of her mother's love for her. Flora's mom does not think Flora is normal and when this squirrel comes into Flora's life mom's only mission is to get rid of the squirrel.
   

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

The author used some interesting text features to capture the reader.  DiCamillo included some short comic strips in black and white to help the reader visualize the story.  The author also used very short chapters throughout the novel.  Another feature that the author included was the dark bold letters like in Flora's popular saying she adopted from her favorite comic series: "TERRIBLE THINGS CAN HAPPPEN."  

It was pretty obvious that her mom still suffered form the divorce but her way out was to write.  Her mom had a hard time sharing her feelings with Flora and often described her daughter as "cynic'".  It was sweet to see that her father missed her just as much as Flora missed her dad.  He cried at night as he slept on a friend's couch.  To see the love of a father and daughter in this story reminds me of my own daughter who loves her daddy dearly.  This story is a great comic with a crazy squirrel that saves everyone at the end.  The author did a great job combining love, hope, humor, and comedy to grab the reader's love for this story.

AWARDS AND REVIEW EXCERPTS  

Awards
WINNER Newbery Medal Winner 2014

Parents' Choice Awards Gold Award
Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2013

Reviews  

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.

                            ~Booklist
 

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

                           ~Kirkus Reviews
 

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.
                            ~Publishers Weekly

CONNECTIONS

1)Talk about hero's and ask questions like: How are superhero's created? How does one identify a hero?  How do we find a hero? 
2)Have the class write a letter to their hero.