YA Wednesday: Flora and Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo

The Fourth of July is almost upon us, and what's more American than SUPER HEROES! So, without further ado, I bring you the first book I've ever heard of featuring a Superhero squirrel. Happy Independence Day, Americans! Happy Wednesday, everyone else!

Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures by Kate DiCamillo

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Even though Middle Grade is a little, well, young for me, I'd still like to read all the Newbery Award Winners. I have maybe 20 left to go, and in the past few years, I've slacked a bit. So I grabbed this one from the library, figuring I could listen to it with my son in the car. I wasn't expecting much, even though I've read and enjoyed many of DiCamillo's novels.

Like a lot of books I read, I didn't read the back before starting the book. So I was a bit startled when I realized the book was about a superhero squirrel. That's right. A squirrel who is also a (suspected) superhero. At least our other title character, Flora, would like to believe when the magically blessed Ulysses enters her life. Ulysses isn't your average superhero. His feats of strength include lifting a vacuum cleaner over his head for no apparent reason. His arch nemesis is a romance writer. He vanquishes nothing more than a large cat. And he is more concerned with giant (and gianter) doughnuts than saving the world. But he may just be able to save Flora.

With wit and humor, DiCamillo proves that superheroes come in all shapes and sizes, and that even when broken, we can still shine (much like a headless shepherdess lamp).

Review Wednesday: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, by Ransom Riggs

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs


My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I'm not sure exactly how to describe this book. It's definitely YA. But other than that, trying to fit it into a category would take some work. It's part mystery, part horror, part contemporary; it's part paranormal, part sci-fi, part weird picture book.

I really liked it at the beginning. Our protagonist had a good sarcastic voice which I liked, but he never crossed the line into snide or mean. And all the pictures, and hearing his grandfather's stories, got me really interested in the book. It seemed like something fresh, which doesn't happen that often, since so many times the books I read end up having similar plots or problems. I liked that this one wasn't a love story, that it was about a boy bonding with his grandfather. The characters were great--the best friend and the grandfather especially.

But somewhere around the middle of the book, I started to lose momentum. All that novelty and excitement started to wear off. By the time I got to the time-travel 'loops' and all the paranormal type creatures, I wasn't very interested anymore. That part didn't seem all that original, and I started noticing that the writing was a bit elementary for me. Yes, I know it's YA, but I read lots of YA. I could tell it was a first novel.

I did enjoy the book, so I will give it three stars. I like it when writers do something new or different that surprises me, like adding weird photographs into the text. But, that could only carry the book so far. Also, it seems like the ending just leads to a sequel, so that sort of annoyed me. I don't think I would read a sequel, but I did think this book was cute and I'd recommend it to people who are fans of the odd and slightly strange.




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