Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures is Kate DiCamillo's latest Newbery winner, and it's unlike any of her previous novels. Although still touched by her imitable talent for adding a dreamlike quality to her characters, and reflects all of her characters' unending search for love, this book has a bigger sense of fun than her other novels. There is a delicate sense of humor that streams throughout the book. The novel is interspersed with graphic-novel-like illustrations (thus the "illuminated" adventures) and the characters end up in some wacky situations. A fun, short read, this book, DiCamillio says, was inspired by a vacuum cleaner and the word, "capacious." Watch her Newbery acceptance speech I've posted below to learn more about this beautiful story. (If you re-read The Tale of Despereaux, however, she uses the word in that book too!)
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