MLIS 5603 Literature for Children and Young Adults
BIBLIOGRAPHY
DiCamillo, Kate. 2013. Flora & Ulysses. Somerville: Candlewick Press, 2013. ISBN 076366040X
DiCamillo, Kate. 2013. Flora & Ulysses. Somerville: Candlewick Press, 2013. ISBN 076366040X
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Flora, the ten-year old protagonist in this low-level fantasy novel, is the daughter of divorced parents. She lives with her mother, a romance writer, who has very little time for Flora. This predicament has also caused the demise of her marriage. Flora is struggling with her new life since her parents' separation, and senses the sadness her father feels at leaving their home. She is lost and trying to figure out where she now fits in, believing her mother loves only a hideous lamp she has named Mary Ann.
This hybrid-graphic novel reads as both an illustrated comic, mimicking the superhero comics Flora and her father have read her whole life, and a junior fiction novel. The novel is set in a modern city with a believable plot line based on real life, post-divorce. Elements of fantasy are evident from the beginning when we see a vacuum-cleaner accidentally suck up a squirrel who is then resuscitated by Flora. The squirrel comes back to life with super powers-flying, typing, and with reasoning abilities to understand humans and write poetry, all the things Flora believes her mother admires. The plot's climax occurs when Flora's mother, Phyllis, tries to kill Ulysses (the squirrel) because she believes that it will make their world normal again. Flora takes Mary Ann hostage until Ulysses is returned, safe and sound.
As mentioned, the setting of the story is contemporary. We mainly visit Flora's home where Ulysses's superpowers are discovered, a donut store, and the apartment complex where her father lives. Dr. Meescham also resides in the apartment complex, where she dishes out food and advice whenever needed. Vivid details of each place, such as the horsehair couch and squid picture at Dr. Meescham's apartment, add a realistic flair to the novel.
Although the story is make-believe fantasy involving a flying, reasoning squirrel, there is a very real sense of humanity present as well. Flora is experiencing what many young children go through today after a divorce, "Do my parents still love me?" "Will things ever be normal again?" "Who do I live with?" Through a series of events with Ulysses, Flora's parents are brought back together, and Phyllis realizes how much she really loves Flora. Love overpowers work, and family values are triumphant in the end.
Rarely done effectively, the author, Kate DiCamillo, uses both first and third person point-of-view in the story. Flora's story is told in third-person omniscient so that the reader feels and knows everything that Flora is experiencing, even though she has labeled herself a "cynic" without feelings. Alternately, DiCamillo uses first-person to limit the readers understanding of Ulysses to just what he is understanding about the human world around him. We see this point-of-view presented in his poetry attempts, such as, "I promise to always turn back/towards you." Through both points-of-view, the two characters work together effectively to create a unique graphically-illustrated novel that young readers will not want to put down.
AWARDS
- Bluebonnet Award (NOMINATED FOR AN AWARD in 2014)
- Publishers Weekly Best Children's Books (Won Award in 2013)
- Horn Book Guide, "...DiCamillo imbues her novel with warmth, humor, and emotion, focusing on large life issues such as loss and abandonment, acceptance of differences, and the complexity of relationships. Full-page and spot pencil illustrations accentuate the mood..."© Jan. 3, 2014.
- School Library Journal, “Flora starts off her 10th summer by promising her mother that she'll spend more time reading real books, and less time poring over the pages of her favorite superhero comics. But neither she nor her mother could have predicted that her summer would be one long superhero adventure, starring none other than Flora and her new pet squirrel, Ulysses. Ulysses gains super-squirrel strength after being sucked into a vacuum cleaner, and he changes the Buckman family's lives, renewing a sense of hope and optimism in Flora... "© Feb. 1, 2014
- Booklist, "...Since Flora's father and mother have split up, Flora has become a confirmed and defiant cynic. Yet it is hard to remain a cynic while one's heart is opening to a squirrel who can type ( Squirtl. I am . . . born anew ), who can fly, and who adores Flora. 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...."© June 1, 2013
CONNECTIONS
Use as an introduction to fantasy/magic, action, comics/heroes, girls/women, animals/squirrels, and parental divorce.
- Introduce comic strip forms, including graphic novels.
- Students can draw their own illustrations for book sections.
- Students can research flying squirrels.
Gather more Kate DiCamillo titles to read such as:
Link to author, Kate DiCamillo: http://www.katedicamillo.com/
· Because of Winn-Dixie. ISBN 0763680893
· The Tale of Despereaux. ISBN 0763680893Link to author, Kate DiCamillo: http://www.katedicamillo.com/
· Because of Winn-Dixie. ISBN 0763680893
· The Tiger Rising. ASIN: 0763680877
Gather similar graphic novels to read such as:
· Regis, Faller. The Adventures of Polo. ISBN 1596431601· Spires, Ashley. Blinky to the Rescue. ISBN 1554535972
· Smith, Jeff. Little Mouse Gets Ready. ISBN 1935179241
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