What happens when a cynic meets a furry superhero?
Minnesota author Kate DiCamillo answers this burning question using donuts,
creepy shepherdess lamps, comic books, and exclamations such as “Holy
bagumba!” in her Newbery Award-winning book Flora
and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures.
Flora
Belle Buckman is a self-professed skeptic whose favorite pastime is reading The Illuminated Adventures of the Amazing Incandesto!,
a comic book about an unassuming superhero. Therefore, when she observes a
squirrel getting sucked into a vacuum, she instantly recognizes its
extraordinary new powers. The squirrel, which she names Ulysses, can fly and
write poetry due to his encounter with the vacuum, but this superhero clearly
needs his own champion against Flora’s mother, who is determined to keep her
daughter from keeping such an odd companion. As Ulysses’s adventures encompass
everyone with whom he comes in contact – including Flora’s father; neighbor-lady
Tootie Tickham; Tootie’s temporarily blind great-nephew; and Dr. Meecham, a
philosopher with a slippery couch – he also begins to draw them together. As
for Flora, she begins to realize having hope is better than being a cynic.
DiCamillo’s
novel uses both quirky narration and comic-book-style illustrations to cover an
astounding range of topics, including divorce, friendship, imagination, poetry,
and forgiveness. Its originality is captivating and the humor keeps the
characters alive. However, the eccentricity also occasionally lends a
disjointed feel to the plot, making the story seem like separate episodes about
unusual events, rather than a connected narrative. Bizarre happenings often
appear to substitute for character development as well. Although definitely
enjoyable for its novelty and its adorable squirrel illustrations, readers may
wish that its pithy sayings and sage life wisdom were accompanied by a more
organized storyline.
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