Flora & Ulysses

Two wonderful events occurred this past week - one greatly anticipated and one blissfully unexpected. Firstly, I always look forward to the end of January for the announcement of the new year's Newbery winners, but I'm never sure exactly what day they'll be revealed (Is there a specific day? Last Monday in January perhaps?). I usually wait for the first-ish week of February and by the time I look them up, they're checked out of every local library with 17+ holds and I don't end up reading them until some time in late summer.

Well, last Tuesday SNOW began to fall in Georgia. School had already been released early and I was on my way home when it occurred to me that I might like some light reading for my free afternoon and (hopefully) my day off the next day. I had my bf check the internet to see if, by chance, the committee had published their decisions and they HAD! The day before! And CNN had written about it just four hours previously. I sped to my local library (since it was closing early due to the inclement weather) - three were checked out and two were not even in the database. All hope was not lost, however, since the University of Georgia campus was still open for another half hour. I sped to their juvenile library and the medal and two of the honors were AVAILABLE! Snow day and new Newberys?! Life doesn't get much better than this.

Snow Day Entertainment

I read the medal first - Flora & Ulysses - since the librarians said I could only check it out for a week due to "course holdings" by "professors." Not a fan of the book. It was a typical Newbery in the sense that it followed the most common Newbery storyline, but atypical in its inclusion of a squirrel superhero (named Ulysses). Yes, this is my first exposure to a squirrel superhero in any literature and it was enough. forever. I was frequently frustrated by Flora's interactions with other people, as well, since nothing is ever explained. If someone says something odd or untrue (a frequent occurrence), she never requests clarification or rectification. Adults don't listen to her and her only peer is oblivious in a very frustrating way.

One redeeming element of F&U: The love Ulysses feels for Flora, the girl. Read this adorable poem he typed her:

Nothing
would be
easier without
you,
because you
are
everything,
all of it-
sprinkles, quarks, giant
donuts, eggs sunny-side up-
you
are the ever-expanding
universe
to me.

 If this poem were not typed by a squirrel that was once sucked up by a vacuum, I would like it even more.

On a slightly related note, did you know "squirreled" can be considered monosyllabic? And is debateably the longest one-syllable word in the English language?