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    Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures
    Unavailable
    Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures
    Unavailable
    Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures
    Audiobook4 hours

    Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures

    Written by Kate DiCamillo

    Narrated by Tara Sands

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    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 the 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 bestselling author Kate DiCamillo comes a laugh-out-loud story filled with eccentric, endearing characters.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateSep 24, 2013
    ISBN9780449015148
    Unavailable
    Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures
    Author

    Kate DiCamillo

    Kate DiCamillo is the acclaimed author of many books for young readers, including The Tale of Despereaux, winner of the Newbery Medal; Because of Winn-Dixie, a Newbery Honor Book; and The Tiger Rising, a National Book Award finalist. She lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

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    Reviews for Flora and Ulysses

    4/5

    560 ratings70 reviews

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    • 5/5
      This engaging, humorous, quirky novel will appeal to both the male and female reader. A common backyard squirrel gets vacuumed up in a super deluxe vacuum cleaner Tootie received as a birthday gift from her husband. The squirrel is not breathing so Flora takes the situation on, by doing CPR on this unconscious little squirrel, even though he does tastes a little funny. The squirrel rallies and back to life possessing superhero powers. Flora, a neighborhood girl, names him Ulysses and takes him home with her.

      Flora is a strong female character living with her mother who is a writer of romamance novels and doesn't have much time to devote to her daughter. Her parents are divorced, to which many of our young readers can relate. I look for this book to be a Newbery honor. There are a few illustrations that truly add to the fun of this book.
    • 3/5
      I'll be honest, and let you know that I tried once before to read Flora & Ulysses. Back when it first came out, actually. Perhaps it was because I was trying to read it on my Kindle, or perhaps it wasn't quite what I needed at the time, but I wasn't able to finish.

      However, this read-through was actually rather delightful! I love Kate DiCamillo's writing for many reasons, but the main one is that it is always so deliciously whimsical. She writes about brave mice, strong friendships, and the goodness that hides within everyone. No matter who her stories focus on, they have a message worth reading. Flora & Ulysses is no exception to that rule, and I think young readers will love it.

      Flora Belle is a sweet character. A self-proclaimed cynic, she has a habit of looking at the world as literally as possible. Only through her love of comics does that piece of her that might believe in the impossible peek through. That is, until Ulysses appears. An odd pair, this girl and her squirrel. Yet they are one that is undeniably adorable. I loved the idea that Flora's best self was brought to light when she met her superhero squirrel. Plus I loved Ulysses himself to the moon and back!

      Now you're probably wondering why I gave this book a three star rating. To be honest, the biggest flaw I found in Flora & Ulysses was the fact that it tried to do so much at once. This isn't just a story about a girl and her friend. It's about a slightly broken family. About finding your best self. About looking for friends in the most unexpected places. Even about forgiveness. While I think that's all admirable, it created a bit of a jumbled story line. I wanted so much to just focus on the relationship between Flora and Ulysses.

      Still, I think this is a story that young readers will love. The illustrations enhance the text beautifully, and overall this is just a fun story. It would be wonderful as a read-aloud between parents and their little ones.
    • 1/5
      A silly story and the grating voice of the narrator make this one audiobook I couldn't finish. Hard to believe this book won the 2014 Newbery Medal.
    • 4/5
      This book is definitely for a young audience, but the vocabulary is fairly advanced and the story is pretty entertaining. Flora is a pre-teen girl who wishes the world were more like the comic books she reads -- but then, suddenly, it is! She befriends a squirrel with superpowers! She identifies his nemesis! She has to put lots of crimefighting and lifesaving skills, culled from years of comic-book reading, into practice!

      In short, this was lots of fun.
    • 3/5
      So. Damn. Obnoxious. Nothing about this was particularly enjoyable - which is shocking, given my over-the-top love for everything furry. It was just very slapstick and slapdash.
    • 4/5
      I was very skeptical of this book when I first started reading it. I found it silly at first. It had a certain charm to it, but wasn't my cup of tea. However, as I got into the meat of the story I started to really grow fond of the characters and the plot. I was always a super fan of comic books so I waited for the comic strips to come up so I could see all the things I had envisioned in my head. The book didn't disappoint in this area, the pictures were wonderful at showing the story and animated what was only in the reader's mind at first.
    • 4/5
      Summary: Ulysses is just like any other squirrel. All he can think about is where his next meal is coming from until he is sucked up into Tootie's (Flora's next door neighbor) vacuum. Flora watches the drama unfold and performs CPR on the poor, now mostly hairless creature.Ulysses becomes self-aware, and becomes the superhero of the story. He is a poetry typing, flying, superhero friend to Flora. Ulysses comes into Flora's life at just the right time. Flora is a self-proclaimed "cynic" who has no friends, who lives in her bookish world of comics and whose mother is a romance novel writer, and whose dad is depressed and lonely accountant. Her family life is not too hot, but Ulysses manages to bring this odd girl and her family back together again. Personal Response: Talking animals are truly "not my thing." I tried to think like a child, which I usually can do pretty well, but the vocabulary usage in this book is so beyond an average 4th- 6th grader's head, I couldn't believe it. My second favorite book in all the world is my dictionary, and all I could think was, "no kid is going to read this, and even be able to understand half of it." It made me wonder at the Newbery Award's committee decision to make this book the winner for 2014. Word usage included, "capacious, vanquished, vehemently, loath, sepulchral gloom" and more. Kids would have to sit with a dictionary, just to get to a deeper understanding of this book. As an adult, I was able to enjoy it for the most part, but it would be difficult for even the brightest to get through this book on their own without further study or deeper application. Curriculum Connection: This book is not for the fainthearted. I would talk about this book, as I introduce Newbery Awards in January and February to 4th-6th grade students. I did appreciate the kid-friendly content of this book. Flora's character,and that of her father and mother were quite believable and would be worthy of doing a character study on them. The character of William Spiver, however was ridiculous, and could be used as a character study also, of how we make characters believable to our reader. In this case it would be a study on what NOT to do. William Spiver is utterly aloof, and comes across as a 35 year old male, rather than a younger middle grade student.
    • 4/5
      This book kept our 6 yo daughter and 8 yo son happy on a long drive. Parents laughed several times. We love Kate DiCamillo!
    • 5/5
      If you aren't capacious of heart, you will be after reading this delightful story by the great Kate DiCamillo. Written for the 8-12 age set, but truly appealing to all ages.
    • 4/5
      Flora Belle Buckman, a determined comic-book reader and fan who escapes the realities of separated parents and an emotionally distant mother by masquerading as a cynic, is a big believer in super-heroes. When she sees a squirrel being vacuumed up by an industrial vacuum cleaner, and witnesses his subsequent super-strength and unusual abilities - he can understand her, and communicates through typing! - she decides that Ulysses, named for the vacuum cleaner that transformed him, must be a super-hero. But whom must he vanquish - Flora's mother, perhaps? - and whom will he rescue...?Kate DiCamillo's second Newbery Medal-winning title, following upon 2004's The Tale of Despereaux, this story of a girl hiding from her pain in assumed indifference and a squirrel newly awakened to the beauty of the world is by turns amusing and heartwarming. As hinted by the sub-title, 'The Illuminated Adventures,' parts of the story here are told through K.G. Campbell's marvelous artwork, which, although black and white, is quite expressive. This mixture of text and illustration, in telling the story, reminded me a bit of some of Brian Selznick's recent work, from The Invention of Hugo Cabret to The Marvels. However that may be, I found Flora & Ulysses immensely entertaining, and ultimately heartwarming. I wasn't as moved by it as I was by 'Despereaux,' or even Because of Winn Dixie, and I'm not sure it deserved a Newbery Medal, but it was still a wonderful tale.
    • 5/5
      Flora & Ulysses are two unconventional friends who go on numerous adventures fighting crime and upholding truth. Flora is a young girl who calls herself a cynic who one day runs into Ulysses a super squirrel. Through a series of events the squirrel develops powers and takes on the world or at least their neighborhood. I enjoyed this book a lot. I think this book is a great read for the 5th or 6th grade student who finds reading boring because in this book there are pictures that looks like a comic book. The images gives the reader a break from reading words and lets the reader “read” the picture. I also feel the images make the book less intimidating for new readers to chapter books. I think the moral of this story is that sometimes big things come in small packages. This can be seen with Ulysses and Flora. They may seem like one thing on the outside but inside they are so much more.
    • 5/5
      The 2014 Newberry Award winner, this Kate DiCamillo novel tells the tale of Flora (a life-long cynic), a young girl who loves comic books (and super heroes) and is struggling to understand her parents’ recent divorce. She is jolted into action when her neighbor runs over a squirrel with a vacuum cleaner. The squirrel’s brush with death causes him to develop so called superpowers. Flora then named the squirrel Ulysses after the vacuum cleaner. Flora explains to Ulysses that he must use his newfound powers to right wrongs, fight injustice, or something. Flora is confused about her mother’s feeling for her (she believes that she would prefer Flora gone and Ulysses dead). With Ulysses help (as well as the other characters) Flora learns her parents real feeling and is able to move forward. I found this book to be a real treat—a great novel for the entire family. Though it is definitely a fantasy—the underlining issues of divorce, change and moving forward are explored. 4 ½ out of 5 stars.
    • 5/5
      10 year old Flora is a cynic. She lives a rather unhappy life with her grumpy romance novelist mother. When she sees a neighbor accidentally suck a squirrel into a vacuum cleaner (while vacuuming her yard) she runs to save the squirrel. Whether it was the vacuuming or the CPR delivered by Flora, the squirrel revives with superhuman (supersquirrel?) strength, the ability to fly, and also to understand and relate to humans. Especially Flora. Flora believes the squirrel, which she names Ulysses, is a super hero who must find his destiny.A small but exceptionally peculiar cast of supporting characters flesh out this warm, positive, life and hope affirming story. Delightful.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      This was just delightful. There's a lot of The Tale of Despereaux in this book--the same magical whimsy but this time with more quirk and zane. It's cute. It's funny. It has so much heart.I can't decide whether I liked Flora or Ulysses better, they're both excellent. The squirrel and his new-found wonder at and understanding of the world. Flora and her journey to open up her cynic heart and learn to hope a little. I am reminded of the George Carlin quote, "Behind every cynic is a disappointed idealist." Flora has been let down in ways she won't even acknowledge but the unanticipated occurrences of her adventure with Ulysses crack the walls she's built up around her.Yeah sure, the ending wraps up just a bit too quickly and just a bit too neatly, but I don't care. This book is just adorable.
    • 5/5
      Reasons this book ended up on my TBR pile: Recommendation by Blue Willow Books as delightful and fun read, 2014 Newbery Medal Winner, Written by Kate DiCamillo who was just named Ambassador to Young People's Literature, and it has quirky characters who talk to animals.

      What better way to draw a young reader into a story than "she was sitting in her room ignoring her mother and reading a comic book." The comic book The Illuminated Adventures of the Amazing Incandesto! Flora witnesses a squirrel getting sucked up into the neighbors vacuum she races out to rescue the squirrel. Flora names the squirrel Ulysses after the vacuum that very nearly did him in, and determines that Ulysses is a superhero in disguise.

      Funny and rich in word play with a mixture of chapters and illustrations like a graphic novel move the story along.
    • 5/5
      children's illustrated fiction/beginning chapter book; animal stories/friendship/superheroes. [Reviewed from uncorrected ARC.] I loved this one, though I wouldn't have enjoyed it as much without the illustrations (which makes it a weaker entry for the Newbery. I enjoyed this more than DiCamillo's Despereaux and will certainly be recommending it to kids in the future.
    • 3/5
      Holy bagumba!
    • 4/5
      Holy Bagumba! What a great little book! Kate DiCamillo has done it again. Unique characters, great pacing and snappy dialogue send this adventure merrily on its way when 10 year-old Flora rescues an ordinary squirrel from the brink of death after he is accidentally sucked into a vacuum cleaner. Ulysses, named after the aforementioned vacuum, not only survives but gains superpowers and together, Flora is certain they will vanquish evil, rescue the defenseless and make the world safer. . .or something.

    • 4/5
      This is a very humorous and heartwarming story about a little girl, a boy, and a superhero squirrel who helps them find love and happiness in life. Just adorable!
    • 4/5
      Pandemic read. Recommended by my favorite almost 5 year old, who loved the movie and named her stuffed plus squirrel Ulysses. Snarky, creative, fun story. Great illustrations
    • 4/5
      Enjoyed this a lot. Very good mix of illustrations with prose in a imaginative and fun way. Love Ulysses and understand Flora.
    • 4/5
      Holy, bagumba! This was a fun read. I thoroughly enjoyed the word play, and use of language.
    • 4/5
      Ulysses is a squirrel who gets sucked into a vacuum cleaner and dies for a few seconds, then Flora brings him back to life and he is imbued with superhero powers. Ulysses addition to the family brings Flora's family and some new friends together in unexpected ways. This was a much more fun book that I expected.
    • 4/5
      Cynic Flora meets poet superhero squirrel Ulysses.
    • 4/5
      Flora & Ulysses is the most recent Newbery winner. It is the tale of a girl who is a self-proclaimed cynic and a squirrel who becomes a poetry-typing superhero after getting sucked up by a vacuum cleaner. I know it is a ridiculous premise, but it was imbued with just enough meaning that it worked. The characters in this book (even the squirrel) were lovable in a very eccentric way, and the writing was engaging and original. The sentence structure and wordplay is amusing and made me laugh on several occasions. Every once in a while, there was also a page done in graphic novel style, which I really liked.

      I can see how some readers might find the characters overly quirky and the writing annoying, but I enjoyed it. Curious to know what kids think of it. Kim, I think your kids would like it if they haven't read it yet.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this book and the way that it switched seamlessly from being a graphic novel to a classic novel. Having both of these mediums mixed together really created a unique reading experience that I think kids with be very responsive to. I loved the character of Flora and the way that her unique view of the world is portrayed and changed throughout the storyline. I also love that poetry is viewed like a superpower in this book. I really think that this book could be a great introduction to many things with its wonderful vocabulary, illustrations, and wittiness.
    • 4/5
      It all began with a vacuum cleaner. A silly story with surprising depth.
    • 4/5
      Flora Belle Buckham's life changes when a squirrel is sucked through her neighbor's vacuum cleaner and comes out with superpowers - not the least of which is being able to write.A cute story of friendship - not just with the squirrel, whom she names Ulysses - and a quirky girl trying to find her way in the world. Flora is a self-proclaimed cynic, but that doesn't mean she isn't hurt by her romance-writing mother's misunderstanding her, and the arc of the story has much to do with Flora's relationships with her divorced parents. The mix of prose, illustrations, and comic book pages lends itself well to the story and reminds readers of Flora and her dad's love of comics. I tend to like Kate DiCamillo's books; she has a distinct style that clearly many people enjoy, as her books are regularly on the Newbery Award and Honor lists. Maybe I'm a bit of a cynical adult myself for not liking the story more. I don't know why I would believe any more in a person getting superpowers from being bit by a radioactive spider than I would a squirrel getting sucked through a vacuum cleaner. As one of the characters Flora meets says, "There is much more beauty in the world if I believe such a thing is possible."
    • 5/5
      I loved this book! The plot was funny and completely unbelievable, but it worked because it was such a fun book. The author captivated the reader with short chapters, sometimes simply consisting of a comic showing the plot, instead of having a lot of words. Since in the story they were discussing comic books, it tied the book together to have comics of the actual story throughout the book. The main message of this book seemed to be that enemies can be friends in the end, and first impressions are not always correct.
    • 5/5
      I love this book! The moral of this story was to stay true to who you are. Flora is a thirteen year old girl who claims she is a cynic. Throughout the entire story she stays true to Ulysses, a squirrel who gains magical powers. She also teaches her mother to never judge something or someone just because it is abnormal. All students need to learn this life lesson to become accepting to others in life. I really liked this book's illustrations. Although it was a chapter book, there were still illustrations. It looks like comic book illustrations which Flora references to in story a lot. In one illustration, Ulysses is at the Giant Doughnut shop. The illustration accurately represents what is happening. I also like this book for the character development both of Ulysses. Ulysses is a squirrel. The perspective of the story is from third person, so at time the reader is able to read what Ulysses is thinking about - mostly food and writing. The character development is great in this story. Lastly, I enjoyed reading this story because of the writing. The chapters are very short, which will give students confidence while reading. Also the writing gets to the point. Flora talks about how her mother is the arch-nemesis. Flora further explains what this means and makes connections to the comics she always reads. This book is wonderful and I would highly recommend it to many!