Fiction, Fantasy, and Graphic Novels-Book Review # 1

 

Fiction, Fantasy, and Graphic Novels-Book Review # 1

Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures

By KATE DiCAMILLO

BIBLIOGRAPHY

DiCamillo, Kate. FLORA & ULYSSES: THE ILLUMINATED ADVENTURES. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press. 2013. ISBN 9780763660406

PLOT SUMMARY

A young girl named Flora or Flora Belle as her infuriating mother calls her is a misunderstood girl with a lot on her mind.  She struggles with belonging not only among her peers, but also with her parents.  Flora does not have many friends and turns to her comic books for all the answers to life's questions.  The world, according to Flora is more exciting and bearable when it includes superheroes, speech bubbles above everyone's head and the excitement that her favorite comic books bring.  One day while enjoying one of her favorite comic books, Flora sees her neighbor's vacuum run around the backyard and suck up an innocent squirrel.  She decides to save the squirrel after learning how to perform CPR from her comic books.  She soon realized that this animal is no ordinary squirrel, it is a real life superhero who she names Ulysses.  This fun story will take you on an adventure and shows you what determination and love can really do.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Flora and Ulysses are two characters children will love, laugh, and identify through their adventures, especially children who are trying to find their way through a divorce. The reader will love Ulysses and hope that he will find a home and some happiness.  This storyline is different and original, but believable.  These two characters go on an entertaining journey with many obstacles to overcome along the way and they manage to overcome these obstacles while still having fun.

This story is set mainly in Flora's home and the surrounding neighborhood, It is described as an average neighborhood with many details that help the reader visualize the surroundings.  These details include the description of the vacuum cleaner and the lamp that are important parts of the story.

Along their journey together, Flora and Ulysses help each other believe in people, conquer loneliness, and hope for good things.  They become close to each other and Flora develops a better relationship with her mom.  She realizes she does have a family and friends who care about her.  This story allows many kids to relate, especially those who are experiencing divorce and loneliness.

The author makes reading this long novel easier by breaking up the chapters into short three or four page acts.  A great majority of the story is told through conversation between Flora and others which could make this a little difficult for some young readers.  The extensive vocabulary Flora uses and the style of writing is mostly appropriate for children ages 10 and older.

REVIEW EXCERPTS

Newbery Award Winner 2014

BOOKLIST: "Newbery winner DiCamillo is a master storyteller, and 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."

SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: "While DiCamillo's work shines on paper, the excessive use of dialogue tags, and the absence of corresponding artwork, make this novel a poor choice as a read aloud."

CONNECTIONS

*Writing activity: If you were creating a superhero, what animal would you choose? Create your own superhero animal using Ulysses as a guide.  Include the following:

-a superpower

-a special name

-how that character hides his or her superhero self

-friends

-enemies

*Flora uses extensive vocabulary in the story, have children search for unfamiliar words in the story and find the meaning and examples of the words.