Cynic: a person who believes that people are purely motivated by self-interest rather than acting for honorable or unselfish reasons
Defiance: open resistance; bold disobedience
Heinous: a person or wrongful act that is utterly odious or wicked
Mundane: lacking interest or excitement; dull
Obliged: to make someone legally or morally bound to an action or a course of action
Stout: of somewhat fat or heavy build
“Flora’s mother had often accused Flora of being a ‘natural-born cynic.’” (pg. 6)
“SHE WAS A NATURAL-BORN CYNIC WHO LIVED IN DEFIANCE
OF CONTRACTS!” (pg. 6)
“See? Alfred T. Slipper become a righteous pillar of light so painfully
bright that the most heinous villain trembles before him and confesses!” (pg. 35)
“Who can say what astonishments are hidden inside the most mundane
being?” (pg. 19)
“The squirrel obliged.” (pg. 16)
“…You’ll become stout.” (pg. 45)
Comprehension Questions
The exact conditions of Flora’s summer contract that she regrets signing is to, “work to turn her face away from the idiotic high jinks of comics and toward the bright light of true literature.” (pg. 5)
Squirrels brains mostly think about one thing, food! (pg. 10)
When Mrs. Tickham’s birthday vacuum stutters to a stop she realizes that she may have killed a squirrel. (pg. 11)
Flora saves the squirrel’s life by performing C.P.R. (pg. 14, 15)
According to Flora the “other” kind of information you can absorb from the regular reading of comics is that impossible things happen all the time. (pg. 20, 21)
With the royalty check from her first book, Flora’s mother buys a pink-cheeked smiling shepherdess lamp. (pg. 28)
Alfred T. Slipper becomes the superhero, Incandesto, who can get villains to confess, when he accidently slips into a vat of Incadesto, which transforms his abilities. (pg. 35)
Flora describes her father before the divorce as someone who was sad and quiet, but who would often read to her from The Illuminated Adventures of Incandesto. After the divorce he became sadder and quieter. (pg. 37, 38)
Flora realizes that while she was sleeping Ulysses the squirrel had gone into the kitchen and eaten the cheese puffs and typed words on her mother’s typewriter. (pg. 45)
William Spiver is Tootie’s great-nephew who is spending the summer with her. (pg. 54, 55)
Flora thinks that William is strange because he is temporarily blind due to a trauma and is completely happy to be her friend. (pg. 54, 55)
Section 2: Chapters 18-34
Vocabulary
Cryptic: having a meaning that is mysterious or obscure
Doubt: a feeling of uncertainty or lack of conviction
Jest: a thing said or done for amusement; a joke
Outwit: to deceive or defeat by greater ingenuity
Persistent: to continue firmly or obstinately a course of action in spite of difficulty or opposition
Treacherous: guilty of or involving betrayal or deception
“The word cryptic popped into Flora’s head.” (pg. 59)
“ And then she though about Alfred, how everyone doubted him, how no one
(except the parakeet Delores) knew that he was Incandesto, and how no one
(except Delores) truly believed him.” (pg. 61)
“‘ Surely you jest,’ said William Spiver.” (pg. 60)
“They would figure out a way to outwit the arch-nemesis!” (pg. 84)
“It was an annoying and extremely persistent habit.” (pg. 80)
“‘… The world is a treacherous place when you can’t see.’” (pg. 58)
Comprehension Questions
Flora shows the piece of paper that was typed by Ulysses the squirrel to show Tootie that she isn’t the victim of an extended hallucination. (pg. 60)
Ulysses had created a poem and this causes Tootie to faint. (pg. 66)
Phyllis wants George to put the squirrel into a sack, then hit it over the head with a shovel and then bury it. (pg. 75)
Instead of worrying about dying Ulysses is thinking about poetry. (pg. 76)
William Spiver apologizes to Flora for saying that the poetry Ulysses wrote was the worst poetry he had ever heard. He also apologizes for not taking off his glasses when she asked him to. (pg. 81)
Flora recalls reading that if she is ever stranded at the South Pole she should eat seal blubber. (pg. 84)
Flora’s father shows that he is a careful driver by placing both hands on the steering wheel, never taking his eyes off the road and not driving fast. (pg. 86)
Flora believes her father would make an excellent spy because he never really answers questions. Instead he sidesteps the question or answers with a question. (pg. 86)
Rita the waitress screams after tapping her pencil into the shoebox because the pencil reveals Ulysses and he flies into her hair. (pg. 9
When Flora’s father sees Ulysses fly through the air he at first introduces himself and asks “how do you do.” The he says, “Holy unanticipated occurances.” (pg. 101, 102)
George Buckman promises Flora to never hit Ulysses over the head with a shovel. (pg. 110)
Section 3: Chapters 35-51
Vocabulary
Capacious: having a lot of space inside; roomy
Inept: having or showing no skill; clumsy
Malfeasance: wrongdoing
Persevere: continue in a course of action even in the face of difficulty or with little or no prospect of success
Treacle: British form of molasses; cloying sentimentality or flattery
Vivid: producing powerful feelings, or strong, clear images in the mindv
“‘Your father is very capacious of heart,’ said Dr. Meescham.” (pg. 129)
“‘Shocking, really, that a romance novelist could be so inept at the language
of the heart.’” (pg. 157)
“‘ This malfeasance must be stopped!’ shouted Flora” (pg. 146)
“In such a universe, it seems ridiculous and foolhardy to attempt a
creation of one’s own, but still, I persevere.” (pg. 150)
“Treacle. That was it.” (pg. 143)
“‘… I must tell you that they were dreams so vivid and beautiful that I am
loath to wake to reality.’” (pg. 143)
Comprehension Questions
Flora’s father never walks, but runs through the hallways of the Blixen Arms because an angry orange cat called Mr. Klaus roams the halls and attacks peoples ankles. (pg. 111)
Flora decides to knock on Dr. Meescham’s door to see medical aid for Ulysses. (pg. 113)
Dr. Meescham says she is a doctor of philosophy. (pg. 118)
When Flora looks closely at the painting of “unremitting darkness,” she sees a small boat on a dark sea getting eaten by a giant squid. (pg. 123)
Life in Blundermeecen was lousy for Dr. Meescham because as a young girl she was expected to speak of inconsequential things and knit. (pg. 127, 128)
Dr. Meescham knows that Georg Buckman is lonely because he has spent many evenings sitting on her horsehair sofa talking about his sadness. (pg. 128)
Dr. Meescham uses the expression used in Blundermeecen to say goodby: “I promise to always turn back toward you.” (pg. 135)
William Spiver and Flora’s mother are in the kitchen writing romance fiction on the typewriter. (pg. 142, 143 & 149)
When Flora’s mother sees Ulysses flying in the kitchen she becomes shocked and overwhelmed and decides she needs to take a nap. (pg. 155)
William Spiver was banished by his mother. (pg. 158)
The “good news” that Flora’s father shares is that Flora and Ulysses are going ot stay with her mother. (pg. 162)
Section 4: Chapters 52-61
Vocabulary
Consume: eat, drink or ingest food or drink
Grim: forbidding or uninviting
Incandescent: emitting light as a result of being heated; passionate or brilliant
Provoke: to stimulate or give rise to (a reaction or emotion, typically a strong or unwelcome one) in someone
Sentiment: a feeling or emotion; exaggerated and self-indulgent feelings of tenderness, sadness or nostalgia
Sorrow: a feeling of deep distress caused by loss, disappointment, or other misfortune suffered by oneself or others
“In his stone paws, he held a stone acorn that he would never get to consume.” (pg. 183)
“Things were pretty grim.” (pg. 189)
“I pushed Tyrone’s truck into the sinkhole, and when my mother
found out, she was incandescent with rage.” (pg. 206)
“‘It seems to provoke her,’ she said.” (pg. 176)
“He found this sentiment difficult to believe.” (pg. 195)
“…I was blinded by disbelief and sorrow.” (pg. 206)
Comprehension Questions
The neo sign in Flora’s dream says, “Welcome to Blundermeecen.” (pg. 179)
Flora’s mother makes Ulysses type a letter to Flora that she dictates that is full of lies. (pg. 182, 183)
Flora trusts William Spiver to help her find Ulysses. (pg. 187)
Flora plans to get Ulysses back by exchanging Mary Ann for Ulysses. (pg. 188)
Flora’s mother kidnaps Ulysses because she wants her daughter to be normal, have friends that are not a squirrel. She doesn’t want her daughter to be unloved and alone in the world. (pg. 195, 196)
William Spiver’s mother sent him away because he pushed somebody’s (Tyrone’s) truck into a body of water. (pg. 205, 206)
William Spiver’s glasses are broken when he trips on Mary Ann’s cord and Flora lands on top of him. (pg. 214, 216)
Flora finds Ulysses sitting on Dr. Meescham’s shoulder in Apt 267 of Blixen Arms. (pg. 217, 218)
Tootie breaks Mary Ann when she uses it to hit the crazed cat over the head in order to save everyone. (pg. 225)
Flora’s mother was worried because when she went home Flora was not there. (pg. 225)
The title of Ulysses last poem is, Words for Flora.
