Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures

by Kate DiCamillo
published: Candlewick Press, 2013
pages: 232

Flora is a self-proclaimed cynic living an unassuming cynical life with a mother who is more interested in her romance novels than her daughter.  Flora's life is dull, until she observe her neighbor accidentally vacuum up a squirrel.  From that moment on, Flora's life takes a turn for the unexpected.  She befriends a superhero squirrel and sniffs out the arch-nemesis in their story.  Together Flora and Ulysses will save the world.

I liked the comic book, superhero feel of the story which was helped by the periodic illustrated panels.  Flora, the cynical 10-year-old main character, lived her life in a comic book style.  She'd see words written above people she interacted with much like the words in the panels of the comics she read.  Incandesto is her superhero of choice and she compared everything in her life to that of Incandesto's life and modeled her actions off of his.

Ulysses is a very interesting character, especially since he is a squirrel.  He's a super hero squirrel with an origin story that's bizarre and unique.  He discovers his abilities right along with Flora.  What he decides he wants to do with them is vastly different than what everyone else wants him to do.  He's an adorable character.

Kate DiCamillo hits on hard topics in all of her novels and Flora and Ulysses is no exception.  The characters deal with love, grief, angry, loss, divorce, loneliness and so much more.  She does an excellent job of explaining these in a way that children will understand without oversimplifying them.

This book is not my favorite Kate DiCamillo book, that title is still held by Tale of Despereaux, but it was enjoyable and entertaining all the same.

Stars: 3/5 

Praise:

"Original, touching and 0h-so-funny tale starring an endearingly implausible superhero and a not-so-cynical girl."
     --Kirkus Review

"Despite supremely quirky characters and dialogue worthy of an SAT prep class, there's real emotion at the heart of this story involving two kids who have been failed by the most important people in their lives: their parents.
     --Publishers Weekly

"In "Flora and Ulysses," longtime fans will find a happy marriage of Mercy Watson's warmth and wackiness and Edward Tulane's gentle life lessons.  In Flora, they will find a girl worth knowing, and one they will remember.
     --The New York Time Book Review

A 2015 Newbery Reading Challenge Book.
A 2015 Full House Reading Challenge Book. 

Feed

by M.T. Anderson
published: Candlewick Press, 2004
pages: 308

Everything begins when Titus and his friends take to the moon for spring break.  They meet Violet, a smart and beautiful girl with an affinity for quietly defying the feed. Shortly after meeting Violet, a crazy hacker causes all their feeds to malfunction, beginning a spiral of events that might just decide Titus and Violet's fates.

It's strange to me that most of the characters can be so vapid and yet they are complex in a world that is continually striving for simplicity. There's a moment in this novel where Titus explains that one of the feed's jobs is to know him better than he knows himself.  He inexplicably trusts this bodiless voice to make all his decisions for him.  I find this fascinating and also horrifying.  I get chills thinking about a society where people, for the most part, don't think for themselves.  That's why Violet's character is such an interesting contrast to Titus and his friends.  She has the ability and the determination to question the feed and it's importance.

To be perfectly honest I would have like this book much more if it were written differently.  I get that this is a satire of today's society and culture, but I almost couldn't get past the language in this book.  Using shortened words like "meg", the nonfunctional "like", and casual slang like "brag" every ten words got to be quite annoying.  It is lazy and obnoxious, which might have been the point.  (It reminds me of text-speak that we use today, which scares me.)  I might not have finished this book had I not known that the language was part of the purpose of it.

So if M.T. Anderson's desire with this book is to strike fear and determination for the prevention of this kind of society, he has succeeded, at least he has with me.  Anderson has definitely given me quite a bit to think about.

Stars:  3/5

Praise:

"This satire offers a thought-provoking and scathing indictment that may prod readers to examine the more sinister possibilities of corporate-and media-dominated culture.
     --Publishers Weekly, starred review

"The crystalline realization of this wildly dystopic future carries in it obvious and enormous implications for today's readers -- satire at its finest.
     --Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"M.T. Anderson has created the perfect device for an ingenious satire of corporate America and our present-day value system...Like those in a funhouse mirror, the reflections the novel shows us may be ugle and distorted, but they are undeniably ourselves.
     --The Horn Book, starred review

Getting Over Garrett Delaney

by Abby McDonald
Published: Candlewick, 2012
Pages: 336

Sadie realizes that her best friend, Garrett, will never return her unrequited love, she sets out determined to detox herself from him.  The problem is she wants to be his friend so it's trickier than she imagined.  Lucky for her, Garrett runs off to writing camp and she rekindles a friendship with childhood best friend, Kayla.  Getting over Garrett Delaney will be tough, but with some moral support Sadie realizes she just might be able to find out who she truly is.


Abby McDonald has written a genuinely fun book.  Her comical over the top character Sadie, has me laughing and smiling at her absurd rules and friends. One of my favorite characters is LuAnn.  Her impeccable style and perky attitude has her on my list of fictional characters I would like to be friends with.  There is so much sass in this book it's hard to keep up with it.  The entire Totally Wired crew is full of surprises and entertainment that could last ages.

 Leave it to Sadie to have you liking her and hating her, but ultimately understanding her emotions.  Most people say things they don't mean when they are being picked apart, even if it's by friends that are just trying to help.  That defensive nature is so strong, especially for Sadie.  She has to figure out who she is and learn to trust herself.  Abby McDonald successfully conveys this particular emotion in her characters.  I felt very sympathetic towards Sadie, but at the same time I knew she was going to regret some of her choice words.  That's just the way friendships go though, highs and lows.

This book started off just right with the perfect about of literature talk and desperate love for a certain Garrett Delaney.  They discussed of the classics I've been meaning to read myself.  However, it seems that the lesson in this book is not only for the character.  By the end of it, I was wondering just why I had to read some of the classics that feel a more like a daunting task than an exciting adventure.  Abby McDonald made me think about my life and whether or not I'm being truthful with myself.  It's surprising who/what can affect you without your realizing it.  As Aiko, barista of Totally Wired, said, "Just because people say something's great, it doesn't mean you have to agree, not if you don't actually enjoy it" (162.)  I can now guarantee that most of the books I read will be because I want to, not because I think I should be reading them.  After all, I'm still in school so there will be some I actually have to read. 
 
Well done, Abby McDonald, well done.  I look forward to reading more of her books in the future. 

Stars: 4/5

Praise:

"Charming and poignant - perfect for anyone who's ever had to mend a broken heart."
              - the Fug Girls, authors of Spoiled

"In this entertaining anti-romance, McDonald turns the tragedy of unrequited love on its head as she traces her heroine's determined and often comical efforts to find herself and become more independent."
                 —Publishers Weekly