A superhero squirrel who writes poetry. That's the pitch. And honestly? It works way better than it has any right to.
I grabbed Flora and Ulysses for a short commute week when I needed something light between back-to-back on-call rotations. Four and a half hours of a Newbery winner about a girl and her poetry-writing squirrel felt like exactly the palate cleanser my brain needed after debugging distributed systems for 60 hours straight.
Here's the thing about Kate DiCamillo—she writes kids' books that don't talk down to anyone. Flora Belle Buckman is a self-described cynic who reads comics about worst-case scenarios. As someone who spends her days anticipating system failures, I felt seen. This kid basically runs incident response for her own life.
When the Vacuum Cleaner Becomes an Origin Story
The setup is absurd in the best way. A squirrel gets sucked into a Ulysses Super-Suction Multi-Terrain 2000X vacuum cleaner (yes, that's the actual name, and yes, I love it) and emerges with superpowers. Flight. Strength. And the ability to type poetry on a keyboard—mostly misspelled, always earnest.
What could've been pure gimmick actually becomes something surprisingly sweet. Flora's parents are separated, her mom writes romance novels and seems perpetually distracted, and Flora has basically decided that hoping for good things is a waste of time. That cynical-kid-meets-chaos energy reminded me of Power of Concentration, though that one takes a much more earnest self-help angle. Enter one squirrel who proves that unexpected things can still happen.
The pacing is snappy—I finished this in three commutes, and the time flew. DiCamillo doesn't waste words. There's a kinetic energy to the story that matches the whole superhero comic vibe the book is going for.
Tara Sands and the Missing Illustrations
Okay, so here's where I have to be honest about the audiobook experience. The original book has illustrations—like, a lot of them. Comic-book style panels that are apparently integral to the whole thing. You don't get those in audio format, obviously. And I can see why some people feel like they're missing something.
But Tara Sands compensates with pure energy. Her narration is fast-paced and lively, matching the story's vibe perfectly. She gives each character a distinct voice—Flora's neighbor William Spiver (who's temporarily blind and speaks in this hilariously formal way), Flora's romance-novelist mother, her estranged father who runs a lamp shop. The cast is quirky, and Sands leans into it.
There's apparently some heroic music that kicks in at key moments, which—okay, that's a choice. It works for the superhero aesthetic, though it might feel a little cheesy if you're not in the right headspace.
One thing I noticed from other listeners: the male versus female voice differentiation isn't always crystal clear. I didn't find it confusing, but I was also half-caffeinated on the 6:47 AM train, so my standards for clarity were admittedly low.
The Emotional Core That Snuck Up on Me
Look, I wasn't expecting to get emotional about a squirrel. But there's this thread running through the book about cynicism versus hope, about what happens when you stop expecting good things and then something good happens anyway. Flora's relationship with Ulysses becomes this quiet argument for staying open to the world even when it's disappointed you.
The poetry Ulysses writes is genuinely funny (and intentionally bad in a charming way). But some of it lands with more weight than you'd expect from a rodent typing on a keyboard.
This won the Newbery Medal in 2014, and yeah, I get it. It's doing something clever with the superhero genre while also being a sincere story about a lonely kid finding connection in an unexpected place.
Who Should Queue This Up (And Who Should Skip)
Perfect for: commutes, family road trips, anyone who needs something light but not dumb. If you've got kids in the 8-12 range, this is a solid shared listen. If you're a grown adult who just needs a break from grimdark everything, also solid.
Skip if: you really need those illustrations (maybe grab the physical book instead), or if fast-paced narration isn't your thing. Also skip if you're somehow opposed to squirrels with superpowers, in which case I have questions about your priorities.
System Status: Recommend
The ROI on this audiobook is pretty good—it's short, it's charming, and it doesn't overstay its welcome. Sometimes that's exactly what you need.
