Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures

by Kate DiCamillo, K. G. Campbell (Illustrator)

Overview

Winner of the 2014 Newbery Medal

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 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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780763667245
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	09/24/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	161,140
Lexile:	520L (what's this?)
File size:	82 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Kate DiCamillo is the author of many beloved books for young readers, including The Tale of Despereaux, which received a Newbery Medal; Because of Winn-Dixie, which received a Newbery Honor; The Tiger Rising, a National Book Award Finalist; The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, winner of a Boston Globe-Horn Book Award; The Magician’s Elephant; and the best-selling Mercy Watson series. Kate DiCamillo lives in Minneapolis.

K. G. Campbell is the author-illustrator of Lester’s Dreadful Sweaters. He was born in Kenya, raised in Scotland, and now lives in southern California.

The theme of hope and belief amid impossible circumstances is a common thread in much of Kate DiCamillo’s writing. In her instant #1 New York Times bestseller The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, a haughty china rabbit undergoes a profound transformation after finding himself facedown on the ocean floor—lost, and waiting to be found. The Tale of Despereaux—the Newbery Medal–winning novel that later inspired an animated adventure from Universal Pictures—stars a tiny mouse with exceptionally large ears who is driven by love to become an unlikely hero. And The Magician’s Elephant, an acclaimed and exquisitely paced fable, dares to ask the question, What if?

Kate DiCamillo’s own journey is something of a dream come true. After moving to Minnesota from Florida in her twenties, homesickness and a bitter winter helped inspire Because of Winn-Dixie—her first published novel, which, remarkably, became a runaway bestseller and snapped up a Newbery Honor. “After the Newbery committee called me, I spent the whole day walking into walls,” she says. “I was stunned. And very, very happy.”

Her second novel, The Tiger Rising, went on to become a National Book Award Finalist. Since then, the master storyteller has written for a wide range of ages. She is the author of six books in the Mercy Watson series of early chapter books, which stars a “porcine wonder” with an obsession for buttered toast. The second book in the series, Mercy Watson Goes for a Ride, was named a Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor Book by the American Library Association in 2007. She is also the co-author of the Bink and Gollie series, which celebrates the tall and short of a marvelous friendship. The first book, Bink&Gollie, was awarded the Theodor Seuss Giesel Award in 2011.
She also wrote a luminous holiday picture book, Great Joy.

Her novel Flora&Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures won the 2014 Newbery Medal. It was released in fall 2013 to great acclaim, including five starred reviews, and was an instant New York Times bestseller. Flora&Ulysses is 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. It was a 2013 Parents’ Choice Gold Award Winner and was chosen by Amazon, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, and Common Sense Media as a Best Book of the Year.

Kate DiCamillo, who was named National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature for 2014–2015, says about stories, “When we read together, we connect. Together, we see the world. Together, we see one another.” Born in Philadelphia, the author lives in Minneapolis, where she faithfully writes two pages a day, five days a week.

Hometown:

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Date of Birth:

March 25, 1964

Place of Birth:

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Education:

B.A. in English, University of Florida at Gainesville, 1987

Read an Excerpt

CHAPTER ONE
A Natural-Born Cynic
 
Flora Belle Buckman was in her room at her desk. She was very busy. She was doing two things at once. She was ignoring her mother, and she was also reading a comic book entitled The Illuminated Adventures of the Amazing Incandesto!
   “Flora,” her mother shouted, “what are you doing up there?”
   “I’m reading!” Flora shouted back.
   “Remember the contract!” her mother shouted. “Do not forget the contract!”
   At the beginning of summer, in a moment of weakness, Flora had made the mistake of signing a contract that said she would “work to turn her face away from the idiotic high jinks of comics and toward the bright light of true literature.”
   Those were the exact words of the contract. They were her mother’s words.
   Flora’s mother was a writer. She was divorced, and she wrote romance novels.
   Talk about idiotic high jinks.
   Flora hated romance novels.
   In fact, she hated romance.
   “I hate romance,” said Flora out loud to herself. She liked the way the words sounded. She imagined them floating above her in a comic-strip bubble; it was a comforting thing to have words
I hate romance.
hanging over her head. Especially negative words about romance.
   Flora’s mother had often accused Flora of being a “natural-born cynic.”
   Flora suspected that this was true.
SHE WAS A NATURAL-BORN CYNIC WHO
LIVED IN DEFIANCE OF CONTRACTS!
 Yep, thought Flora, that’s me. She bent her head and went back to reading about the amazing Incandesto.
   She was interrupted a few minutes later by a very loud noise.
   It sounded as if a jet plane had landed in the Tickhams’ backyard.
   “What the heck?” said Flora. She got up from her desk and looked out the window and saw Mrs. Tickham running around the backyard with a shiny, oversize vacuum cleaner.
   It looked like she was vacuuming the yard.
 That can’t be, thought Flora. Who vacuums their yard?
   Actually, it didn’t look like Mrs. Tickham knew what she was doing.
   It was more like the vacuum cleaner was in charge. And the vacuum cleaner seemed to be out of its mind. Or its engine. Or something.
   “A few bolts shy of a load,” said Flora out loud.
   And then she saw that Mrs. Tickham and the vacuum cleaner were headed directly for a squirrel.
   “Hey, now,” said Flora.
   She banged on the window.
   “Watch out!” she shouted. “You’re going to vacuum up that squirrel!”
   She said the words, and then she had a strange moment of seeing them, hanging there over her head.
“You’re going to vacuum up
that squirrel!”
 There is just no predicting what kind of sentences you might say, thought Flora. For instance, who would ever think you would shout, “You’re going to vacuum up that squirrel!”?
   It didn’t make any difference, though, what words she said. Flora was too far away. The vacuum cleaner was too loud. And also, clearly, it was bent on destruction.
   “This malfeasance must be stopped,” said Flora in a deep and superheroic voice.
   “This malfeasance must be stopped” was what the unassuming janitor Alfred T. Slipper always said before he was transformed into the amazing Incandesto and became a towering, crime-fighting pillar of light.
   Unfortunately, Alfred T. Slipper wasn’t present.
   Where was Incandesto when you needed him?
   Not that Flora really believed in superheroes. But still.
   She stood at the window and watched as the squirrel was vacuumed up.
 Poof. Fwump.
   “Holy bagumba,” said Flora.
 
CHAPTER TWO
The Mind of a Squirrel
 
Not much goes on in the mind of a squirrel.
   Huge portions of what is loosely termed “the squirrel brain” are given over to one thought: food.
   The average squirrel cogitation goes something like this: I wonder what there is to eat.
   This “thought” is then repeated with small variations (e.g., Where’s the food? Man, I sure am hungry. Is that a piece of food? and Are there more pieces of food?) some six or seven thousand times a day.
   All of this is to say that when the squirrel in the Tickhams’ backyard got swallowed up by the Ulysses 2000X, there weren’t a lot of terribly profound thoughts going through his head.
   As the vacuum cleaner roared toward him, he did not (for instance) think, Here, at last, is my fate come to meet me!
   He did not think, Oh, please, give me one more chance and I will be good.
   What he thought was Man, I sure am hungry.
   And then there was a terrible roar, and he was sucked right off his feet.
   At that point, there were no thoughts in his squirrel head, not even thoughts of food.
 
CHAPTER THREE
The Death of a Squirrel
 
Seemingly, swallowing a squirrel was a bit much even for the powerful, indomitable, indoor/outdoor Ulysses 2000X. Mrs. Tickham’s birthday machine let out an uncertain roar and stuttered to a stop.
   Mrs. Tickham bent over and looked down at the vacuum cleaner.
   There was a tail sticking out of it.
   “For heaven’s sake,” said Mrs. Tickham, “what next?”
   She dropped to her knees and gave the tail a tentative tug.
   She stood. She looked around the yard.
   “Help,” she said. “I think I’ve killed a squirrel.”

Editorial Reviews

When a cynical comic-book fanatic discovers her own superhero, life becomes wonderfully supercharged. Despite the contract her mother made her sign to "turn her face away from the idiotic high jinks of comics," 10-year-old Flora avidly follows her favorite superhero's adventures. Flora's mother writes romance novels and seems more in love with her books than with her lonely ex-husband or equally lonely daughter. When a neighbor accidentally vacuums a squirrel into a Ulysses 2000X vacuum cleaner, Flora resuscitates him into a "changed squirrel," able to lift the 2000X with a single paw. Immediately assuming he's a superhero, Flora names the squirrel "Ulysses" and believes together they will "[shed] light into the darkest corners of the universe." Able to understand Flora, type, compose poetry and fly, the transformed Ulysses indeed exhibits superpowers, but he confronts his "arch-nemesis" when Flora's mother tries to terminate him, triggering a chain of events where Ulysses becomes a real superhero. The very witty text and droll, comic-book–style black-and-white illustrations perfectly relay the all-too-hilarious adventures of Flora, Ulysses and a cast of eccentric characters who learn to believe in the impossible and have "capacious" hearts. Original, touching and oh-so-funny tale starring an endearingly implausible superhero and a not-so-cynical girl. (Fantasy. 8-12)

Kirkus Reviews

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

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 (starred review)

Original, touching and oh-so-funny tale starring an endearingly implausible superhero and a not-so-cynical girl.
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

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 (starred review)

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.
—School Library Journal (starred review)

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

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.
—The Horn Book

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

Helped in no small part by K.C. Campbell’s perfectly placed illustrations, Flora and Ulysses does precisely what I always want in a book. It lures you in with the ridiculous and then when you least expect it gets you in the gut with a bolt of pure, uncut, unadulterated meaning. Rare fare. ... Exceptional.
—A Fuse #8 Production (SLJ blog)

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

The incomparable Kate DiCamillo, creator of “The Miraculous Adventures of Edward Tulane” and “The Tale of Despereaux,” has outdone herself in this extraordinary tale of love, connection, healing and finding your way home, themes that run through all of her work. ... DiCamillo is laugh-out-loud hilarious... while delivering lovely asides and beautiful insights about the human condition and the importance of being open to the mystery of the everyday.
—The Buffalo News

[L]augh-out-loud funny, tender, difficult and hopeful all at once. ... Cynics beware, this book is meant for those open to joy, wonder, loyalty and friendship of all stripes.
—The Huffington Post

Kate DiCamillo is a fine storyteller who respects her readers with rich and sophisticated language that touches the mind and tongue like delicate spice. ... Shaded pencil sketches propel the action and provide additional clues to characters and setting into a story of humor and joy tinged with sadness and unconditional love.
—The Deseret News

Beautifully written... The accompanying illustrations and cartoons are enchanting, and the remarkable DiCamillo demonstrates she has storytelling power to spare.
—The Chicago Tribune

With her signature wit and wisdom, DiCamillo captures readers' hearts in this slightly outrageous and thoroughly enjoyable tale.
—Charleston Gazette

[A]n offbeat concoction... [T]he writing is sharp, with a lexicon of SAT-level words and a core belief in possibilities - hope, love and happiness.
—San Francisco Chronicle

Kate DiCamillo's newest book ... is that rarest of all treasures, a truly inventive and appealing children's middle-grade novel.
—The Boston Globe

[A] fast-paced, funny tale. ... Like all of DiCamillo's books, Flora & Ulysses is filled with adventure, but also plenty of humor and soul. ... DiCamillo has seamlessly blended comic-book elements and a zany cast of characters into a thoroughly original, heartwarming tale.
—BookPage

This is a fun and clever tale of an unlikely hero uniting an even more unlikely cast of characters. Kate DiCamillo strikes again. Each character is well-drawn, the story is packed with fun references and asides. It's a perfect blend of poignancy and magic.
—Fall 2013 Parents' Choice Book Awards

DiCamillo does here what she does best, which is tell a deceptively simple story that elucidates big truths. ... And though the ideas are sophisticated, the storytelling is engaging enough to lure in a reader who might be put off by a doorstop of a novel. This slim volume also features illustrations by K.G. Campbell... [which] jell seamlessly with DiCamillo's prose.
—Austin American Statesman

Though their adventures are wild and wacky, the heart of the story is about a girl adrift and how she finds her way home. Pencil illustrations and comic book panels by K.G. Campbell complement Kate DiCamillo's text perfectly. After reading Flora and Ulysses, you'll be asking when the next installment is due.
—NPR Books

Much like its furry hero, this swiftly paced tale is full of bold leaps and surprising turns. ... K.G. Campbell’s occasional drawings supplement the narrative and brilliantly interpret the characters, from the partially bald Ulysses to chain-smoking Mom. As with her previous big-hearted novels, DiCamillo proves once again that “astonishments are hidden inside the most mundane being,” and gives us another fantastic story.
—The Washington Post

Beautifully written... The accompanying illustrations and cartoons are enchanting, and the remarkable DiCamillo demonstrates she has storytelling power to spare.
—The Chicago Tribune (syndicated from Tribune Newspapers)

Brilliantly written and graphically engaging, it’s filled with adventure, poetry, and compassion. Worth reading, and equally appealing for kids and adults.
—The Boston Globe, Best of 2013

From the Publisher

Listeners will need to hold on to their headphones as author DiCamillo and narrator Tara Sands treat them to a madcap adventure that bounces between quirky human characters and a squirrel with superhero dreams who also writes poetry. Ten-year-old Flora Belle Buckman witnesses said squirrel being disgorged from her neighbor Tootie Tickhams’s Ulysses Super-Suction Multi-Terrain 2000X vacuum cleaner. Sands’s narration is lively and fast paced. She takes on variety of personalities with gusto: among them, the determined Flora and her flappable mother, dramatic Tootie and her unexpected friend William Spiver, and the dreamy-voiced squirrel, Ulysses. Melodramatic music signals the story’s switch from the human world to the squirrel’s superhero fantasies. Relish the unexpected as Flora helps Ulysses blossom. A.R. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine

NOVEMBER 2013 - AudioFile