Review: FLORA & ULYSSES

**Starred Review** PublishersWeekly

**Starred Review** ALA BookList

**Starred Review** Kirkus

**Starred Review**SchoolLibraryJournal

Kate DiCamillo wins constant kudos for her work in children's literature.

She's penned such popular works as Because of Winn-Dixie,  The Tale of Despereaux,  The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, and the Bink and Gollie (links to reading list) and the Mercy Watson pig series.

In FLORA & ULYSSES she has adapted a new style of story telling where graphic novel pages are interspersed within normal text. The pictures don't just enhance the story visually, they take the place of text. 

Background

Flora is a young cynic. A dedicated cynic. And life certainly hasn't been pushing her in any other direction. Her mother and father have separated, and her mother seems to care more for the "Bo-Peep" lamp that she was awarded for writing romance novels, than for her.  

NOW given this grim home-life, I wasn't sure I was going to be a fan of the story.  DiCamillo's tales always seem so dark and sort of depressing, and I guess it's to her credit that Kate can bum me out, but I wasn't in the mood for a dark read.

However, FLORA AND ULYSSES is wonderful. It has an uplifting ending and the ultimate focus isn't on any thing negative, but rather it brings home the fact that it's our viewpoint that determines whether or not we can see the wonder and magic of life.

The stimulus for these revelations is a squirrel. At first just a normal everyday squirrel. But then, after a near death experience, he becomes Flora's Ulysses. A squirrel who can fly (sort of), and who can definitely type!  

Great characters. Very satisfying ending. If you like Dicamillo's work, you should definitely check this book out.

Pam~


FLORA AND ULYSSES
by  Kate DiCamillo
K.G. Campbell (Illustrator)

4.11 Stars from 211 GoodReaders

Word Count: 32,790
Page Count:  240
Accelerated Reader: 4.3 / points: 5.0
AR quiz: 160221