2014 Newbery Medal Winner

On Monday, January 27th the American Library Association announced the 2014 winners of the youth media awards. The most illustrious of these is the Newbery Medal which is awarded to the author of the best children's book.

Last year I was overjoyed when The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate was awarded the Newbery medal. I must confess, though, that I was less than thrilled with the Newbery committee's pick for the 2014 medal.  If you are unaware the winner of the Newbery medal this year was Flora & Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo. This was a book that  immediately received attention from critics, librarians, book stores, etc. due to the prestige of the author. Kate DiCamillo also won the Newbery Medal in 2004 for The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread and a Newbery Honor for Because of Winn Dixie in 2001. In my opinion, Flora & Ulysses just does not live up to the hype and reputation of the author.

So why am I being so contentious about a book that everyone else (in the literary world at least) seems to adore? Let me start off by saying that the premise of Flora & Ulysses is so unique and fun that it could (and should) have been a home run.  A poor little squirrel is tragically killed in a vacuum cleaner accident and is brought back to life via CPR. Amazingly, he awakens with human like intelligence and a fierce desire to compose poetry. Who wouldn't cheer for a squirrel with super powers? Also K.G. Campbell's captivating illustrations and comic book inserts are an absolute giggle-fest.

Sound and looks good right? Let me ask now what age or grade level you would you recommend this book for? Based on the juvenile premise and appearance of this book  it seems to be geared toward a younger elementary (1st-3rd grade) audience. Also, looking at many of the reader reviews on Goodreads and Amazon, the fans of the DiCamillo's Mercy Watson and Bink and Gollie books are flocking to read Flora & Ulysses and those books are written at a considerably lower level.

However, once you begin reading Flora & Ulysses you quickly realize that the advanced vocabulary, as well as, some mature and existential subject matter would be completely baffling for the majority of children below 5th grade.

Let's begin with the vocabulary DiCamillo employs to tell the tale of her superhero squirrel. Honestly, I cannot see many children being able to read Flora & Ulysses without having a dictionary or adult on hand to decipher the meaning of half the text.

      uncynical, illuminated, malfeasance, cogitation, indomitable, mundane, dislocation, unassuming,   unanticipated occurrences, emblazoned, extended, hallucinations, dictums, multiplicity, hyperbole, neurotic, recitation, obfuscation, inevitable, surreptitious, imperative, notorious, euphemistically, unremitting, inconsequential (Hello, I know adults that would struggle with some of these!)

These are only some of the more difficult words from the first half of the book. Now, I am all for challenging kids and I, by no means, think that we should ever "dumb things down" for kids. It is  important for kids to expand their vocabularies and be able to infer meaning from text. In my opinion, though, DiCamillo goes a little overboard in Flora & Ulysses (did she have a thesaurus sitting on her lap while typing). She may simply discourage kids from even reading it. No doubt, many kids will pick it up and love the pictures and comic book pages, but will they actually read the text? I am not so sure.

You might be shaking your head in disagreement right now. Flora & Ulysses has received rave reviews and a number of awards and Kate DiCamillo is a much lauded children's author. Keep in mind, though, that children in elementary school are taught to use the five finger test when choosing a book to read. By this test, many young readers may put the book back on the shelf before even starting it.

In addition to the difficulty of the text, Flora & Ulysses is overflowing with angst, philosophy, and esoteric gibberish that most young readers would find unfathomable (ha ha I can use $10 words too).

Instead of a cute animal story (which is what Flora & Ulysses appears to be) this is a book about profound loneliness and rejection.  Flora's own mother says that she doesn't want her around and her father's heart has "closed off" leaving him totally detached from the world and his daughter. Poor William Spiver has displayed psychosomatic blindness since his mother replaced him and his deceased father with a new boyfriend. Then there is the character of Dr. Meescham, who imparts her deep and enigmatic wisdom throughout the book.

 “A squirrel flies in," said Dr. Meescham. "This I did not expect at all. It is what I love about life,  that things happen which I do not expect. When I was a girl in Blundermeecen, we left the window open for this very reason, even in the winter. We did it because we believed something wonderful might make its way to us through the open window. Did wonderful things find us? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. But tonight it has happened! Something wonderful!" Dr. Meescham clapped her hands. "A window has been left open. A squirrel flies in the window. The heart of an old woman rejoices!”

“All things are possible. When I was a girl in Blundermeecen, the miraculous happened every day. Or every other day. Or every third day. Actually, sometimes it did not happen at all, even on the third day. But still, we expected it. You see what I'm saying? Even when it didn't happen, we were expecting it. We knew the miraculous would come.” 

  “Pascal," said Dr. Meescham, "had it that since it could not be proven whether God existed, one might as well believe that he did, because there was everything to gain by believing and nothing to lose. This is how it is for me. What do I lose if I choose to believe? Nothing!"

"Take this squirrel, for instance. Ulysses. Do I believe he can type poetry? Sure, I do believe it. There is much more beauty in the world if I believe such a thing is possible.” 

“Don't we all live in our heads? Where else could we possibly exist? Our brains are the universe.”  

Personally, I think that the characters in Flora & Ulysses come across as overly contrived. DiCamillo seems to be going for quirky and precocious, but she never gets there. The adults are bordering on creepy, like Mrs. Meecham (a warning to never go into a stranger's apartment) or indifferent and unsympathetic, like Flora's parents. As for the for the children, they reminded me of watching Dawson's Creek, because just like with that that show's ridiculously unteenlike dialogue (Check out #1 on this top 10 things we learned from Dawson's Creek),  you know that there is not a child on the planet that talks like Flora and/or William. Oh, you can have smart kids and quirky characters, but you still need to be able to identify with them and imagine that they exist. Think of Matilda by Roald Dahl or The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin. Both of these children's books feature intelligent female heroines and an interesting supporting cast of characters, but there is an authenticity that is missing in Flora & Ulysses.

 

Of course, this is simply my opinion of the book so feel free to disagree (and I know that those die hard Kate DiCamillo fans are probably spitting nails by now). I just do not think that Flora & Ulysses is the right book for the right audience (if that makes any sense). For example, I adored Counting by 7's and that was thought-provoking, emotional, had intriguing characters, and used lots of big words (the main character is a 12 year old genius). The difference is that Counting by 7's is intended for and appealing to an older audience. Not many 5th or 6th graders are even going to give Flora & Ulysses a second glance because it looks and sounds too young for them. The younger elementary kids that will be attracted to Flora & Ulysses, though, are going to be completely lost with both the difficult text and the sometimes dark and disconcerting themes.