Review: Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures

By Kate DiCamillo
Illustrated by K.G. Campbell
Available now from Candlewick
Review copy

I bumped up FLORA & ULYSSES: The Illuminated Adventures on my reading list when it was long-listed for the National Book Award.  The shortlist has since been announced and FLORA & ULYSSES is not on it, but it is worth reading.

I've loved Kate DiCamillo's work since her breakout hit, BECAUSE OF WINN DIXIE.  She's a tremendous author, with beautiful but accessible prose.  I liked that FLORA & ULYSSES used a graphic novel format for the illustrations instead of just static images.  It gives the novel a chance to play with point of view, and can also be used to entice readers to try a graphic novel or to try a prose novel.

However, I don't think the story is DiCamillo's best.  I'm quite fond of the central characters.  Flora is the sort of child to believe in strange things when they happen and a huge comic book fan.  When she sees Ulysses the squirrel gain superpowers by being sucked into a vacuum, she's ready to take him in and be friends.  I also liked her neighbors, the "temporarily blind" William Spiver, who is Flora's age and quite verbose, and his aunt Tootie, who takes a little while longer than the children to warm up to a poetry-writing squirrel.

But the story fell apart around Flora's parents.  Her relationship with her mother could be powerful, but her mother spends too long acting like a cartoon villain.  Meanwhile, her father compulsively introduces himself for no apparent reason.  I kept waiting for someone to  mention it within the story, but no one ever did.  To top it off, the plot is a little thin.  FLORA & ULYSSES feels like an origin story.  Although it would be a wonderful series, I think it is a standalone.

I thought FLORA & ULYSSES was wonderfully written and that the story was playful and exciting.  But it's not DiCamillo's best.  And to be fair to FLORA & ULYSSES, I have high expectations of her work.  I must add, however, that Ulysses' poetry is a highlight.  It's beautiful without being esoteric.