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Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures Paperback – Illustrated, September 13, 2016
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Holy unanticipated occurrences! From #1 New York Times best-selling author Kate DiCamillo comes a laugh-out-loud story filled with eccentric, endearing characters — a novel interspersed with comic-style graphic sequences and full-page illustrations, all rendered in black and white by K. G. Campbell.
- Print length256 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- Grade level3 - 7
- Lexile measure520L
- Dimensions5.19 x 0.68 x 7.63 inches
- PublisherCandlewick
- Publication dateSeptember 13, 2016
- ISBN-100763687642
- ISBN-13978-0763687649
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From the Publisher
Also by Kate DiCamillo
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A 2016 National Book Award Finalist. |
A 2001 Newbery Honor Book. |
A 2001 National Book Award Finalist. |
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The 2004 Newbery Medal Winner. |
"One reading is hardly enough to savor the rich philosophical nuances of DiCamillo's story. I think I will go read it again right now." —The New York Times Book Review. |
"Kate DiCamillo has a gift, inequitably distributed among writers of all kinds, of eliminating the obvious and still egging on the reader. She writes beautifully but thinks simply." — The New York Times Book Review. |
Editorial Reviews
Review
—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)
About the Author
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
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.”
Product details
- Publisher : Candlewick; Reprint edition (September 13, 2016)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 256 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0763687642
- ISBN-13 : 978-0763687649
- Reading age : 8 - 11 years, from customers
- Lexile measure : 520L
- Grade level : 3 - 7
- Item Weight : 7.2 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.19 x 0.68 x 7.63 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #16,683 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the authors
Kate DiCamillo’s writing journey has been a truly remarkable one. She grew up in Florida and moved to Minnesota in her twenties, when homesickness and a bitter winter led her to write Because of Winn-Dixie — her first published novel, which became a runaway bestseller and snapped up a Newbery Honor. The Tiger Rising, her second novel, was also set in Florida and went on to become a National Book Award finalist. Since then, the best-selling author has explored settings as varied as a medieval castle and a magician’s theater while continuing to enjoy great success, winning two Newbery Medals and being named National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. She now has almost 30 million books in print worldwide.
Now, for the first time ever, Kate DiCamillo is returning to the world of a previous novel to tell us more about a character whom her fans already know and love. In Louisiana’s Way Home, set two years after the events of National Book Award finalist Raymie Nightingale, she picks up the story of Raymie’s friend Louisiana Elefante, who uncovers difficult truths about her past — and makes choices that will determine her future.
Kate DiCamillo’s books’ themes of hope and belief amid impossible circumstances and their messages of shared humanity and connectedness have resonated with readers of all ages around the world. 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 face down 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. The Magician’s Elephant, an acclaimed and exquisitely paced fable, dares to ask the question What if? And Kate DiCamillo’s second Newbery Medal winner, Flora & Ulysses, was released in 2013 to great acclaim, garnering five starred reviews and an instant spot on the New York Times bestseller list.
Born in Philadelphia but raised in the South, Kate DiCamillo now lives in Minneapolis, where she faithfully writes two pages a day, five days a week.
Keith G. Campbell was born in Kenya, but raised and educated in Scotland.
He graduated from the University of Edinburgh with a Master's degree in Art History.
After trying on several careers, Keith eventually returned to his early passion of writing and illustrating stories.
He is currently a full-time author/illustrator and lives in California.
You can find Keith at http://kgcampbell.com
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Flora's mom is a romance writer who seems to pay more attention to her romance novels and a shepherdess lamp than she does her daughter. Since the divorce, Flora's dad, George, seems sadder and quieter. Flora turns to her favorite comic, The Illuminated Adventures of the Amazing Incandesto, to escape the heartache in her life. Flora (10) becomes friends with another boy William Spiver (11), similar to Flora as a divergent thinker, dealing with his own family problems.
Author Kate DiCamillo weaves a touching story about these two offbeat children and a squirrel that Flora's mom thinks is rabid and diseased. While there is plenty of silliness and laugh-out-loud moments, there are many valuable lessons for kids to learn from this book. As a retired elementary teacher, I believe most children at the upper elementary level will enjoy this book.
In Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures there are many unanticipated occurrences and it all begins with a vacuum cleaner, a squirrel and a natural born cynic named Flora. There is a wacky cast of characters including a self absorbed romance writer, an air head neighbor, an emotionally traumatized great-nephew next door and a sad, sad father. They all tip toe right up to the line of being too wacky but only cross the line a little and in such silly ways I loved them for it. In fact, I won't even try to give you a plot synopsis because honestly, it's a simple and predictable plot but a joy to read and discover on your own.
Kate DiCamillo books are always wonderful read alouds, but this one is just BEGGING for a dramatic reading. I gave it to my brilliant eight year old for Christmas and we've had a terrific time either reading alone or together. This is a great book for sitting close on the sofa so you can both see the pictures but leave plenty of room for dramatic gestures which you'll probably find necessary as you read. The illuminations (illustrations) are basic yet expressive and they really enhance the humor. Honestly, it's hard to capture the funny wonderfulness of Flora and Ulysses in a review. You have to read it for yourself. :)
I do wish we could have gotten to see more of William spiver and floras relationship development but other than that the book is amazing and I would recommend to everyone.
Today I am writing a book review about Flora and Ulysses. It’s about a shy girl named Flora who loves superhero comics. Her friend is someone named Ulysses—who also just so happens to be a squirrel! They get together in a freak accident that involves an annoyed woman, an oversized vacuum cleaner, and squirrel CPR. It was then and there that the unlikely friends had their first adventure…
My thoughts about the book are these: I really liked how the author grabs your attention and pulls you into the story to make you feel like you’re right there. I also like how hilarious the squirrel is and how he is always hungry. Finally, I like how Flora grew and saw how important friendship really is to her—just like a plant finally seeing the sunshine and reaching up toward it. I absolutely recommend this book to others!
Madelyn Beams, age 8
Top reviews from other countries




A great read from a master writer.
