Great Middle Grade Reads discussion
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Flora & Ulysses
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BOTM March - FLORA AND ULYSSES
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Yeah, I just finished reading this one too and really enjoyed it.
I'm excited that the win was an overwhelming majority. This is one of those amazing books that will stand the test of time, IMO.
I'm very happy it won... Just a note, though: We, the members. are unable to see the poll results.
Placed it on hold last week thanks to this poll. Hope I get to read it before the month is over!
Nyssa wrote: "I'm very happy it won... Just a note, though: We, the members. are unable to see the poll results."Thanks for letting me know -- I didn't realize everyone couldn't see the results! When I create the polls there is a function to "hide results until the end of the the poll," so I just assumed everyone else could see the results when it ended! Let me know if they are visible now. If not I'll have to figure out why . . . But this month 55 people voted, and 20 chose Flora. The next runner up had 10, William Buckley's Fairy Tales Grimm.
L.R. wrote: "Placed it on hold last week thanks to this poll. Hope I get to read it before the month is over!"BOTM threads get left up for 6 months, so it gives everyone a chance to chime in : )
M.G. wrote: "Nyssa wrote: "I'm very happy it won... Just a note, though: We, the members. are unable to see the poll results."Thanks for letting me know -- I didn't realize everyone couldn't see the results!..."
It is showing now. Thank You. :)
My daughter (age 11) just finished reading Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures yesterday. She said she liked everything except the ending and wants to know what I think about it. I'm looking forward to reading it even more, now.
I hope everyone enjoys!
I am really excited to read this book with the group! I have been getting more and more into middle grade stuff and am looking forward to these group reads/recommendations!
I'm happy you're here Emily! :)
Added it to my to read list. I'm excited for the group read!
Oh man, I loved this novel. Nyssa - I am really REALLY interested to see what your daughter thought of it and what about the ending she didn't like. I loved the epilogue, personally, but I can also see that (view spoiler)I adored the drawings and how they added so much to the work, especially since one of our main characters cannot talk. Allowing him to communicate through that artwork was just a stroke of brilliance, in my mind. And I loved Ulysses' super-powers. (view spoiler)
Excited to see what others think!
She won't tell me until I read the book; so I'll put RPO on hold and start Flora today. Lol.
So many of the Newbery books are ponderously profound. This one is full of heart with a serious take away message, but the journey is oh so funny. A joy to read.
Mod
That is a huge positive to me. I may actually squeeze out time to read it!
I just finished this and really enjoyed it. At first I thought it was very light and I was just enjoying the humour, but as I got further into the story I really became engrossed in the story and loved the messages I took away from it. Also thought the use of Rilke was great.
I think the illustrations and heart warming friendships that develop really make this book.
Brenda wrote: "I think the illustrations and heart warming friendships that develop really make this book."I agree.
So this is the first book that I am reading as a member of this group. Is this a spoiler free zone? I don't want to post anything that is going on in the book if people are still reading it.I just started reading it, and am really enjoying the story (specifically, the squirrel). By the way, MG, thanks for organizing this poll every month.
Nyssa - did you finish or are you still working?Dave - you can hide spoilers. Just type < spoiler > at the beginning (no spaces) and < \spoiler > at the end (no spaces) and Goodreads magically turns it into a link and hides it.
Emily wrote: "Nyssa - did you finish or are you still working?Dave - you can hide spoilers. Just type at the beginning (no spaces) and at the end (no spaces) and Goodreads magically turns it into a link and ..."
Oh! I finished about a week ago. I enjoyed it.
I understand why my daughter was upset... and I agree with you about Flora's self-characterization. My first reaction was - "I do not think that word means what you think it means.", but then realized that she was using it as a security blanket. :)
Yes, totally a security blanket. Poor thing! I really loved your daughter's reaction (and discussed it a bit in my review I posted on my blog). I thought it really helped me see what would bother someone of that age range.But I also think this is a successful book because there are lots of layers and lots available for discussion, whether 11 or, erm, older than that. ;)
Emily wrote: "Yes, totally a security blanket. Poor thing! I really loved your daughter's reaction (and discussed it a bit in my review I posted on my blog). I thought it really helped me see what would bother ..."Very true! :)
For some reason, this book is making me sad. Poor Flora!
Emily wrote: "Nyssa - did you finish or are you still working?Dave - you can hide spoilers. Just type at the beginning (no spaces) and at the end (no spaces) and Goodreads magically turns it into a link and ..."
Thanks for explaining how to hide the spoilers!
I have presented this book in class and have a waiting list for students wanting to read it - a large one - of boys and girls. Holy bagumba has become a catch phrase, but there are also so many beautiful phrases. One my students particularly enjoyed was of the purple shadows throwing themselves on the floor. Wonderful. I don't have the book here to quote because so many students have responded to it, so I haven't been able to borrow it back. Perfect combination of illustration and text - and I was worried about that, when I first saw it was illustrated, but I have to say illuminated is by far the more accurate word.
Megan wrote: "I have presented this book in class and have a waiting list for students wanting to read it - a large one - of boys and girls. Holy bagumba has become a catch phrase, but there are also so many bea..."I've been reading this to my kids over dinner -- they are a little old to pick up this one on their own, but we have loved it. And yes, we've been caught saying things like "Holy Bagumba!" and "Unanticipated occurrences!"
Just wondering what everyone thinks about allowing spoilers on the BOTM thread? It seems like it would allow for more interesting discussion. Chime in with your opinion!
M.G: M.G. wrote: "Just wondering what everyone thinks about allowing spoilers on the BOTM thread? It seems like it would allow for more interesting discussion. Chime in with your opinion!"It might help, as long as there is a warning in the thread title, but it really depends on the book.
I, personally, like to discuss books while I'm reading them, so having open spoilers is usually a turn off for me, but, many MG books seem to have a straight line progression, with not much in the way of subplots. On the other hand, there are books/series like The Lightning Thief and The Sun Trail that are meatier than other books and could be easily tainted, if not ruined, by a spoiler or two.
Emily: Emily wrote: "Yes, totally a security blanket. Poor thing! I really loved your daughter's reaction (and discussed it a bit in my review I posted on my blog). I thought it really helped me see what would bother ..."
I responded "Very True" to your comments about the layers, but forgot to thank you for the comment about my daughter. Thank You, Emily! She really enjoys talking about the books she reads, and she was really excited that an adult (not her parent or teacher) was interested in what she had to say.
I don't think this is a spoiler, but what was did you all think of the mother smoking? For some reason, I kept thinking how wrong it was for her to smoke. Then again, I enjoyed the Hunger Games where kids kill each other to entertain adults.
David wrote: "I don't think this is a spoiler, but what was did you all think of the mother smoking? For some reason, I kept thinking how wrong it was for her to smoke. Then again, I enjoyed the Hunger Games..."
It bothered me too, but thats just because I'm anti-smoking - especially around children.
I think it probably was purposely included to make Flora more sympathetic, or the mother less so. Then again, it was a relapse during a particularly stressful time, so I was willing to cut her some slack. I probably would have been more upset if she were smoking the whole way through.
Nyssa wrote: I probably would have been more upset if she were smoking the whole way through. Very true.
Another thing. Ulysses is awesome, but I saw a squirrel by my bird feeder today, and I realized that this book hasn't changed my opinion on squirrels one bit.
David wrote: "Another thing. Ulysses is awesome, but I saw a squirrel by my bird feeder today, and I realized that this book hasn't changed my opinion on squirrels one bit. "LOL! I don't think I ever developed a concrete opinion about them, other than they're cute but germy.
David wrote: "I don't think this is a spoiler, but what was did you all think of the mother smoking? For some reason, I kept thinking how wrong it was for her to smoke. There's a huge difference between depicting a behavior and glorifying a behavior. Smoking was just one of the things Flora's mother does that is wrong. She's very self-involved and insensitive to both Flora's feelings and her health. Her smoking exemplifies this.
If DiCamillo had a character we are supposed to admire smoking, I might differently. But the mother is an antagonist here.
Now that I am finished with the book, I can see why the mom was smoking. Looking foreword to April's book.
It was a fun read and moved me too -- as DiCamiilo's works tend too. Yet, honestly, I don't think my MG self would have enjoyed it that much.
It's the most popular book in my classroom at the moment - Year 8 English. I only have one copy, so there is a lengthy waiting list for it. Wish my budget were a little larger. Kids are putting post-its in marking favourite lines and there are so many. This book plays with language so beautifully.
I wanted so badly to love this book. The beginning idea is hilarious and the characters are mostly endearing. Even the characters that I don't like very much do a great job of propelling the plot along. I read this book with my teacher hat on, and I loved the rich vocabulary. I just can't figure out who the book was written for. I can't help but feel that my students (4th grade, about 10 years old) who will pick it up and look at it will find the relationships in the book too deep and emotional. Those who grab first for books that include similar illustrations might find too much text or vocabulary that is too challenging. But I will place this in the classroom library next week with a rousing hurrah for one of our beloved authors and sit back to see what happens.
Catherine wrote: "I can't help but feel that my students (4th grade, about 10 years old) who will pick it up and look at it will find the relationships in the book too deep and emotional...."My thoughts exactly.
"But I will place this in the classroom library next week with a rousing hurrah for one of our beloved authors and sit back to see what happens."
Please share what happens!
I'm behind the times, but in the midst of my morning routine a sudden thought bothered me about William(the boy w/ temporary blindness), and I wonder if other readers have a more positive take on this. What bothers me about William is that his symptom and extreme reaction to trauma is so unusual, it makes his character quite inauthentic.
I've worked with children (both in the Special Ed and mental health fields) who struggled with a range of challenges, including trauma, and yet they showed such resilience.
Children are resilient.
When I think back to the children I worked with, I recall the smiles on their faces, and their joie de vivre. Yes, I remember the tantrums and tears too, but they never lost that basic joy.
William seems like some shrunken down man. And if his psych. assessment looks the way it does now, what can we expect when he hits his thirties?
Flora, I'd be wary of taking your relationship with William further.
Great Middle Grade Reads
Books mentioned in this topic
The Lightning Thief (other topics)The Sun Trail (other topics)
Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures (other topics)
Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures (other topics)
I've started reading it, and it really is funny!
Here's the GoodReads description:
Holy unanticipated occurrences! A cynic meets an unlikely superhero in a genre-breaking new novel by master storyteller Kate DiCamillo. It begins, as the best superhero stories do, with a tragic accident that has unexpected consequences. The squirrel never saw the vacuum cleaner coming, but self-described cynic Flora Belle Buckman, who has read every issue of the comic book Terrible Things Can Happen to You!, is the just the right person to step in and save him. What neither can predict is that Ulysses (the squirrel) has been born anew, with powers of strength, flight, and misspelled poetry—and that Flora will be changed too, as she discovers the possibility of hope and the promise of a capacious heart. From #1 New York Times best-selling author Kate DiCamillo comes a laugh-out-loud story filled with eccentric, endearing characters and featuring an exciting new format—a novel interspersed with comic-style graphic sequences and full-page illustrations, all rendered in black-and-white by up-and-coming artist K.G. Campbell.