Wednesday, June 11

Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures

Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures
Kate DiCamillio
Illustrations by K. G. Campbell

My rating: ★★★★★

ISBN: 9780763660406
Publisher: Candlewick
Date of publication: September 24, 2013
Age: Grades 4 and up
Genre: Realistic Fiction/Superhero Comic (yep)

Themes: super powers, family relations, cynacism, adventure

Awards: Newberry Medal (2014)

The squirrel did not notice the Ulysses Super-Suction, Multi-Terrain 2000X vacuum come up from behind. Self-proclaimed cynic Flora, having observed the accident while reading her favorite super hero comic, ran to his aide. She was amazed to find the squirrel not only alive, but bestowed with the powers of strength, flight, and misspelled poetry! And so begin their adventures together. Flora just may learn to feel hope and love once again.

I loved it. Simply perfect. The characters are eccentric, but so lovable—for crying out loud, it’s a squirrel that writes poetry! The format is inventive: half novel, half graphic novel. Plus, that makes it a quick, fun read. My favorite part is that, even though it’s this quirky story and format, it still has depth. It tackles Flora’s strained family relations and her own cynical attitude. It totally deserves the Newberry.

Find it at your library or on Amazon

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