She stood at the window and watched as the squirrel was vacuumed up.

Poof. Fwump.

“Holy bagumba!” said Flora

Flora Belle Buckman is a natural-born cynic. She likes nothing more than to spend her days reading comic books, something that her romance-writing mother feels is a waste of time. The irony of her mother’s opinion is not lost on Flora. With her parents divorced, she no longer has a father at home who will read to her The Illuminated Adventures of the Amazing Incandesto!, her favorite comic book, and trying to voice the hero’s parrot side-kick Dolores on her own is just not the same.

Flora Belle Buckman is looking for someone with whom to do something heroic.

Who knew that “someone” would be a vacuumed up squirrel?

For my money, Kate DiCamillo reigns as one of the best contemporary young adult authors around. She consistently writes books that are deceptive in the way that they start out as if they will simply be a light, quirky tale and quickly envelope you in a complex, moving–and still quirky–tale. Kate DiCamillo is an author I can count on to bring on the water works, and I shed a few satisfied tears at the close of Flora & Ulysses earlier today.

My sappiness aside, Flora & Ulysses is well deserving of the Newbery Medal it received in 2014. I am only sorry I let the book languish unread on my shelves for two and a half years before finally giving myself the pleasure of meeting young Flora and her furry superhero squirrel, Ulysses.

Flora & Ulysses is told largely in prose, but is on occasion supplemented by comic-book-style illustrations by K.G. Campbell, and the illustrations are wonderful. Further embracing the kind of comic books, and comic-inspired television shows, that the adult generation watched as children, the book is enhanced by various fonts that represent thought bubbles.

As satisfying as these touches are, they truly do enhance what is already a solidly written story. Kate DiCamillo addresses the difficulties inherent in relationships: divorce, dysfunction, the loss of a loved one to old age and death, with care and candor by weaving the harsher realities of life into a sweet and sometimes silly tale of a girl and a superhero squirrel.

What makes Flora & Ulysses special are the various odd characters, each with their own unique eccentricity, whose character flaw or tragic burden open up a feeling of kinship with the reader. Kate DiCamillo somehow manages to layer deep meaning into a very whimsical tale in a way that never feels heavy or preachy.

Flora is such a fun character, with her exclamations of “Holy unanticipated occurrences!” and “This malfeasance must be stopped!”. I enjoyed all the small comic book touches of the story, especially how we are able to see the origin of a superhero in the nearly fatal fate of Ulysses. Flora’s neighbor, Mrs. “Tootie” Tickham is a surprisingly sympathetic character and her young nephew, William (never Billy) Spiver, were two very delightful characters, but the evolution of Ulysses and his ability to express himself was the greatest delight of the novel.

There is something tremendously satisfying about being able to read an entire story in an afternoon, but the melancholy sets in when you adore the characters and do not want to leave them behind. Such was the experience with Flora & Ulysses. I would love to adventure with them again one day.