Flora and Ulysses: the illuminated adventures by Kate di Camillo illustrated by K. G. Campbell 231 pages 9780763660406

This year's Newbery winner has a most unusual beginning. A squirrel is sucked into a vacuum cleaner, a Ulysses Super Suction vacuum cleaner. Flora springs to his rescue and performs CPR on the stunned critter. After he returns to consciousness, he discovers a yearning to create poetry. This is the most remarkable friendship since Fern resolved to save Wilbur in Charlotte's Web. Flora desperately needs a little magic in her life. Her parents are splitting up and her mother is one of the least likeable mothers in the canon of children's literature.She concocts a plan to have Flora's father murder Ulysses in a pillow case with a hammer. Let me reassure you, that does not happen. There is a bit of Roald Dahl mixed in with this saga. Flora resolves to be a cynic with a tough heart that can not be beaten by her mother. Flora names Ulysses after a comic book superhero and this little squirrel does have a heart of a hero.The audio version of this read by Tara Sands is lovely and the way I experienced this story; however, the illustrations with bits and pieces of a graphic novel format will also be enjoyed by young readers..