Flora and Ulysses
Author: Kate DiCamillo
Genre: Chapter book with Comic Book like Illustrations
Published September 13, 2016
Page Count: 256
“Holy unanticipated occurrences!”
As with all great comic book superheroes this story begins with tragedy. After a freak accident involving a run away vacuum cleaner Flora witnesses a squirrel, who should be dead, immerge with new found powers. Ulysses has been born a new and together he and Flora will embark on a daring adventure in search of hope.
From the author of Because of Winn Dixie, The Tiger Rising, and The Tale of Despereaux comes a quirky story about a girl who loves comic books, a squirrel with super powers, cynics, and a promise to always turn back toward you.
Reading Audience:
A chapter book aimed at 7-12 year olds. Elementary and Middle School both might get into this one.
Stuff to be aware of:
Smoking and Mental Issues - Flora’s mother smokes and it is made clear she does this when under mental duress. Her mother seems to be suffering from a mental break down or mental health issues. She is very mean/rude to her daughter at times and doesn’t want to have a “weird” daughter.
Violence - Characters try to kill a squirrel in multiple ways: shovel, knife, and cat mouth. The cat actually attacks humans too and scratches and bites.
Overall:
A quirky story with eccentric characters, laugh out loud humor, and some deep themes you can discuss with your children if you read together. My girls and I had a good time reading it, but we did have to have some discussions about how important it is for parents to be adults and not say mean things to their children. I will say I enjoyed the movie better than the book, it is written a little different and changes the mom and her bad habits a bit. You can read about the movie by clicking HERE.
Overall, this was a fun read and I enjoy Kate Dicamillo’s style in this book. It has comic book like illustrations and any kid that gets into super heroes will probably enjoy this one.
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