Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures is a middle-grade magical realism novel written by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by K. G. Campbell, and originally published in 2013. DiCamillo is a renowned middle-grade author who also wrote Because of Winn-Dixie and The Tale of Despereaux, among other books. Flora and Ulysses was the recipient of the John Newbery Medal for the Most Distinguished Contribution to American Literature for Children in 2014. It was also adapted into a Disney film in 2021.

This guide is based on the 2016 Candlewick Press paperback edition of the novel.

Plot Summary

Donald Tickham buys his wife Tootie a Ulysses 2000X vacuum cleaner for her birthday, and she is less than thrilled. The vacuum is far too powerful and sucks up everything, and this is how the story of Flora and Ulysses begins. Flora Belle Buckman sits engaging in her passion, reading comic books (especially the Amazing Incandesto) when she hears Tootie vacuuming in her yard. Flora watches helplessly as Tootie vacuums a squirrel by mistake. She is certain the woman has killed it, but rushes down to try to help. Using knowledge from her comic books, she gives the squirrel CPR and saves its life.

The squirrel wakes up hungry and finds himself thinking more profoundly about life. He picks up the Ulysses 2000X vacuum cleaner with ease and shakes out some crackers, indicating one of his new superpowers. Tootie cannot believe her eyes, but Flora believes the squirrel is a superhero, just like Incandesto. She names him Ulysses, after the vacuum that sucked him up. The squirrel feels illuminated, like he is seeing the world anew, and Flora introduces herself as she picks him up. She carries Ulysses into the house and past her mother, Phyllis Buckman, who doesn’t notice the squirrel as she is too busy typing a novel. Flora’s parents are divorced, and Flora and her mother have a distant, somewhat cold relationship.

Flora takes Ulysses to her room and finds out he can understand her. She tells him about superheroes and Incandesto, and how she believes Ulysses might be a superhero too. Flora wonders what other powers Ulysses has. After dinner, Flora finds Ulysses asleep on her pillow, and misses her father, George Buckman, who used to read Incandesto comics to her at bedtime. Flora rarely hears from her father anymore, but tries not to let this bother her. In the middle of the night, Ulysses awakes feeling hungry and goes to the kitchen. He finds a bag of cheese puffs and consumes them, then writes a few words on Flora’s mother’s typewriter. The next day, Flora awakes to her mother yelling at her, enraged about Ulysses’s actions overnight. Flora doesn’t want to tell her mother about the squirrel, so she chooses to just apologize. Internally, she is amazed that Ulysses can type.

Soon, Tootie knocks on the door, wanting to confirm if what she saw yesterday was real. She is soon followed by her great nephew, William Spiver, who is staying with her for the summer. William is one year older than Flora, and her first impression of him is that he is strange; he wears dark glasses and claims to be blind, but Tootie insists he’s not. Tootie tricks Flora’s mother into letting her take the squirrel, and she, Flora, and William go back to her house with Ulysses. There, they ask Ulysses to type for them, and he types out a poem describing his love for Flora, letters, the world, and food. William insults the poem, but Tootie is so amazed, she faints. Flora’s father George arrives to pick Flora up, and Flora overhears her mother telling her father to kill the squirrel. Believing her mother to be the archnemesis of Ulysses, she vows to keep him safe.

Flora gets into her father’s car with Ulysses, but is stopped by William and Tootie. Tootie recites a poem in thanks to the squirrel, and William apologizes for insulting his poem. George finds the pair strange and drives away. In the car, Ulysses enjoys Flora’s company, as well as the sights and smells around him. The three arrive at a donut shop called the Giant Do-Nut, and inside, a waiter finds Ulysses inside his shoebox. She screams, and Ulysses jumps into her hair. Soon after, a chef emerges with a knife, and Flora urges Ulysses to remember that he is a hero. Ulysses jumps from the waiter’s hair and learns he can fly.

Seeing Ulysses fly causes something unexpected to happen: George smiles. Flora is moved by this and holds his hand as they watch Ulysses together. Ulysses flies into a glass door and falls unconscious, and Flora and her father escape with the injured squirrel before anyone can call the police. George laughs the whole way home, promising to never kill the squirrel. Instead, they take him to a “doctor”—Dr. Meescham—who lives in the same apartment complex as George, and the doctor reveals how important Flora is to her father. Dr. Meescham also tells Flora that her father has spent many days crying over being apart from her, and about how large and vulnerable his heart is. She confesses to being a Doctor of Philosophy, but is confident Ulysses will be fine. She tells Flora about the importance of believing in the impossible and how doing so brings beauty into the world, and about how loneliness can cause people to do terrible things. On the drive home, Flora is afraid to confront her mother, but is reassured when she feels her father’s strong heart beating inside his chest.

When Flora and George arrive at the house, they find William in the kitchen along with Flora’s mother. William is helping her write her novel, but admits he is there to see Flora. When Flora’s mother sees Ulysses, she becomes angry, and Flora accuses her of being an archnemesis. Flora asserts herself and says she wants to move in with her father instead, and her mother reacts coldly to these words. Seeing Flora hurt, Ulysses tries to cheer her up by flying around the kitchen. Flora’s mother is shocked and goes upstairs. When George joins her to talk, William and Flora are left alone. William tells Flora that he was banished from his house after an incident with his stepfather, who doesn’t respect him; he also shares that his father died a few years ago.

When Flora’s parents return from their talk, George is comforting Flora’s mother as she smokes (an old behavior she tried to break). Flora’s mother wants Flora and Ulysses to stay, but she seems robotic and far too kind for her character. Flora is suspicious of her, but her father insists on giving her a chance. During the night, Ulysses sits awake thinking about Flora and all the events of the day. He flies downstairs to type out a letter to Flora despite Flora’s warnings not to use the typewriter. Suddenly, Flora’s mother appears behind him and rips the poem he is writing out of the typewriter. She threatens him to write a fake letter telling Flora that he is going back to the wild, before grabbing him by the tail and throwing him in a sack.

Ulysses is certain he is going to die as he sits in the car, and ponders how much he is going to miss out on now that he has been illuminated. Meanwhile, Flora dreams of holding hands with William beside a river she names the Incandesto. When she awakes, she notes Ulysses’s absence and sees the letter in the typewriter. Flora knows the letter is fake and that her mother kidnapped Ulysses. Flora enlists William’s help; she takes her mother’s beloved shepherdess lamp as a means of negotiation. Tootie drives William and Flora around the city in search of Ulysses—until the car runs out of gas. They set out on foot. When William begins to cry as he discusses his broken relationship with his mother and regret at having pushed his stepfather’s truck into a sinkhole, Flora holds his hand.

Flora’s mother takes Ulysses to the woods and brings out a shovel. Ulysses remembers who he is and all of the people who love him, and flies off into the night before Flora’s mother can kill him. He searches for Flora, but soon gets lost and ends up at the Giant Do-Nut. There, he realizes he is right across from Dr. Meescham’s apartment, and flies there to seek her help. Dr. Meescham feeds Ulysses sardines and crackers, and then enlists the help of Flora’s father to figure out what is going on. Meanwhile, Flora, William, and Tootie are on the side of the highway, searching for clues; Flora and William are still holding hands. At one point, William trips over the shepherdess lamp cord and falls with Flora, breaking his glasses. However, he claims he can see (as he’s been pretending to be blind). Flora and Tootie humor him as best as they can. William cries and admits to wanting to go home and repair his relationship with his mother.

Flora, William, and Tootie eventually make their way to the apartment complex in search of George. Instead, they find Ulysses in Dr. Meescham’s apartment, along with Flora’s father. Flora is overjoyed to see Ulysses safe, and tells him that she loves him while giving him a hug. Shortly after, Flora’s mother is heard screaming from the hallway: She is being attacked by the landlord’s cat Mr. Klaus, and both George and Ulysses attempt to save her. They fail, but Tootie saves them by whacking the cat on the head with the shepherdess lamp, breaking the object.

Flora’s mother is relieved to know her daughter is safe, and everyone sits in Dr. Meescham’s apartment to talk. She admits to kidnapping Ulysses because she wanted everything to be normal again, but after Flora went missing, her priorities changed. She reads Ulysses’s poem aloud to everyone, and Flora realizes her mother loves her. Ulysses knows this is not his last poem; in fact, he intends to write many more, about things he loves, things that have happened, and things he hopes for. He sees the sun rising outside and thinks about breakfast.