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).

Why Writers Write

That's a question that I'm sure lots of fellow writers get asked, and it's always an awkward moment. Why, indeed. So I've come up with a handy list, feel free to pick and choose some and use them next time someone asks you that most unanswerable question.

• Because I want to
• Because I need to
• Because I have to
• To get out all the crazy
• To keep from going crazy
• Habit
• Duty/obligation
• Inspiration
• I had an idea
• Someone gave me an idea
• I was trying to come up with an idea
• I want to share my ideas
• I like to cleverly hide my ideas in fiction
• I keep hoping for a good idea
• I have no idea
• I started and couldn't stop
• I stopped and couldn't get started again, so now I will never stop because then I might never get started again.
• It's my calling
• It's my therapy
• It's my escape
• It's my revenge
• It's my one true love
• I'm in love with my hero
• I'm in love with my villain
• Someday I'll be discovered
• I don't care if no one ever reads it, I have to get it out of my head
• If I don't write it down, where will it go?
• I have to see what happens next

For most of us, the answer is probably some combination thereof, or a hundred other reasons. For most of us, it's probably because it's who we are, because we can't NOT write. Notice how none of the above reasons said, "for the money?" If a writer is writing for that, good for him/her. Bravo. He made it in the writing world and hit the publishing jackpot. My guess is, his books are not excellent. But what do I know? I only write because I'm a writer.

Happy Writer Wednesday, everyone!

REVEAL Wednesday: Book Cover Preview: The Invention of Wings, by Sue Monk Kidd

If you read The Secret Life of Bees and loved it as much as I did, chances are, you read something else by Sue Monk Kidd since then. I read The Mermaid Chair. Good, but not much can surpass Bees, one of my favorite books ever.

So, I was especially excited to have the opportunity to help reveal the cover of Kidd's new book, The Invention of Wings, coming to a bookstore near you on January 7, 2014.

Without further ado...

I cannot wait to read the next novel by this fabulous author! I love the cover already.