The story: Flora is horrified when her neighbor, Tootie Tickham, accidentally sucks a squirrel into her vacuum cleaner. But things get even weirder when it turns out that the squirrel's near-death experience has changed him--no longer is he just a food-seeking rodent. Now, he's a thinking, feeling, poetry-writing, food-seeking rodent. This is the story of Flora's attempt to keep Ulysses safe from his arch-nemesis (also known as Flora's mother). Good thing Flora's read all those comic books so she knows exactly what to do...most of the time!
June Cleaver's ratings: Language G; Violence G; Sexual content G; Nudity G; Substance abuse PG; magic and the occult PG (a squirrel develops super powers...not sure WHAT category that belongs in!); GLBT content G; adult themes (divorce; doing away with unwanted animals) PG; overall rating G.
Liz's comments: Yes, I know everyone else thought this was charming, and I KNOW it won the Newbery Award...but I am so opposed to varmints in general, and squirrels in particular, that I found myself identifying more with the arch-nemesis in this story than with the heroine. It's interesting how the Newbery Award has changed since the advent of the Printz award--it used to be that Newberys would frequently have wide appeal to MS audiences; now they seem to skew to upper ES grades instead. This one would make a good read-aloud, even for first & second graders. Anyone who remembers being a fan of comic books as a kid (or currently!) or who likes cute little furry animals in general, would probably like this one better than I did!
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