Review of Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures by Kate DiCamillo

This book was recommended to me by a tween, although I have read other books by Kate DiCamillo.  I really enjoyed this book!  The story has (unexpected) emotional depth, and a main character that you can identify with.  Flora lives with her mom and feels second best to a lamp (the little shepherdess) she believes her mother loves more.  She spends her time engrossed in a comic series about the Amazing Incadesto, which is something she used to do with her dad before her parents got divorced.  She calls herself a cynic because she wants to distance herself from hopes and beliefs where she might be disappointed, and instead tries to only focus on the facts.  But when her neighbor accidentally vacuums up a squirrel who--like in any good comic origin story--now has amazing powers, Flora's cynicism starts to fade because she WANTS to believe in something.  She wants to believe that Ulysses is a superhero who can fly and type poems on a typewriter.  During her interactions with her dad ("George Buckman.  How do you do?"), her neighbor (Tootie), her dad's neighbor ("the Dr. Meescham who is the doctor of philosophy"), and her neighbor's nephew (William Spiver), Flora has adventures with Ulysses, who vanquishes (twice!) Mr. Klaus, escapes from a villian who wants to kill him, and writes several poems.  Everyone (except the villian) believes in Ulysses and what he symbolizes--a hope that a squirrel can become extraordinary.

The plot itself is fairly simple, but there is a richness and quirkiness to all of the characters that I found interesting.  In keeping with the comic book theme that Flora has immersed herself in with Ulysses, woven into the pages are comic book panels that tell the story in a more visual way.  Overall, I found the story amusing, quirky, and touching as Flora allows herself to believe in something again.