(image borrowed from goodreads.com)
4/5 stars
This 2014 Newbery winning book is actually a hybrid
novel. The majority is told in novel
form, but several times, switches to a comic form, especially when something
truly heroic and super is happening.
It’s the story of a girl named Flora, a self proclaimed
cynic, and a squirrel named Ulysseus, who develops super hero type powers after
an unfortunate run in with a vacuum cleaner.
I could see this story as being very popular among
kids. In fact, I have book talked it to
some of my older kids and have gotten a few of them interested in the
story. It’s funny, fast paced, and
entertaining.
That being said, as an adult, I found it to be almost a
little too much. All the quirkiness of
the story kind of hit me in the face and just kept coming and coming. Almost like Kate DiCamillo was trying too
hard to make this seem like an award winning book (which obviously
worked). I was glad when it all ended
and I could actually sit back and reflect on what happened.
I did really like the characters. You can tell that underneath her “cynic”
persona, Flora is a normal ten-year-old girl going through her parents divorce
and basically being ignored by her mother.
She just wants to know that her mother loves her and approves of
her. I will say, I hated Flora’s mother
the entire way through. I’ve recently
had discussions with other librarians about how that woman should not even be
allowed custody of Flora. Always good to have a villain that people deeply
despise J.
I look forward to getting my students to read this. I think they will really enjoy and a big
congratulations to Ms. DiCamillo for another Newbery win!
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