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ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSFlora Belle Buckman is ten years old, almost eleven, and proud to call herself a natural-born cynic. She spends her days reading her favorite comic, The Illuminated Adventures of the Amazing Incandesto, even though she signed a contract with her romance-novelist mother promising to give up comics for real literature. Her parents are divorced, and life at home is quiet and a little lonely until the afternoon she watches her neighbor's brand new vacuum cleaner, the Ulysses 2000X, chase down and swallow a squirrel in the backyard. Flora runs outside, frees the squirrel, and gives him CPR to bring him back to life. He survives, but something about him seems different now, and Flora starts to wonder if her new pet has abilities no ordinary squirrel should have. As she names him Ulysses and tries to figure out what he can do, Flora is pulled into an adventure that mixes poetry, family trouble, and the kind of impossible events she thought only happened in comic books.
Free Battle of the Books questions for Flora & Ulysses
SPOILERSEvery one of these has the same answer, and that is the point. In a real battle the question is read aloud with a dozen other books in play, and students have a few seconds to place it. Here is what a battle might ask about Flora & Ulysses. Use them as a quiz, a trivia round, or BOTB practice.
Where in the book they come from
- Early in the book
In what book does a woman find a furry tail sticking out of her new vacuum?
✓ Answer
Flora & Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo
Tootie's birthday machine chokes on the squirrel and stutters to a stop. She drops to her knees, gives the tail a tentative tug, and then tells the empty yard she thinks she has killed a squirrel.
- First half
In what book does a mother order a father to hit a squirrel with a shovel?
✓ Answer
Flora & Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo
Phyllis tells George to put the squirrel in a sack, hit him over the head, and bury him with the shovel from the garage, and she calls it the humane thing to do. Flora decides her own mother is the arch-nemesis.
- First half
In what book does a girl distrust a waitress because of the exclamation point on her name tag?
✓ Answer
Flora & Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo
Rita's tag is printed in capital letters with an exclamation mark, which makes Flora narrow her eyes and decide the woman is insincere. The cynic turns out to be right that Rita means trouble.
- Second half
In what book does a squirrel hurl a gigantic cat down an apartment building hallway?
✓ Answer
Flora & Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo
Ulysses dives onto Mr. Klaus, pries him off George Buckman's head, holds him overhead with one paw, and throws him down the corridor of the Blixen Arms. It is his first genuinely heroic act, and Flora had been worrying that a superhero who only flew around did not really count.
- Second half
In what book do people say good-bye with "I promise to always turn back toward you"?
✓ Answer
Flora & Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo
Dr. Meescham says this is how people parted in Blundermeecen, where nobody knew if they would see each other again, and she makes Flora say it back to her. Flora repeats it to the squirrel in the car, and the line later ends up on his list of words for a poem.
- Near the end
In what book does a boy get sent away for pushing his stepfather's truck into a sinkhole?
✓ Answer
Flora & Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo
William Spiver finally explains why he is living with his great-aunt, which is that Tyrone kept calling him Billy until he cracked and sank the truck. His mother was furious and sent him away, and he says it was her rage that left him unable to see.
