How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Something strange had happened to the squirrel's brain. Things had gone blank, black. And then, into this black blankness, there came a light so beautiful, so bright, that the squirrel had to turn away. (5.1)
This is the moment, the one where a random squirrel is changed into superhero. We had to include what it's like from the squirrel's perspective since we know what Flora sees from up in her room (and then down on the lawn). It seems like such a happy moment for Ulysses.
Quote #2
Everything was shot through with meaning, purpose, light. However, the squirrel was still a squirrel. (7.3)
After the vacuum cleaner incident, Ulysses will never be the same, and here he thinks about his change into a superhero through colors and light. It's a cool way to think about it. Even though we've never become a superhero (unless you count dressing up for Halloween), we get to experience it with Ulysses through his awesome description.
Quote #3
For instance, heroes — superheroes — were born of ridiculous and unlikely circumstances: spider bites, chemical spills, planetary dislocation, and, in the case of Alfred T. Slipper, from accidental submersion in an industrial-size vat of cleaning solution called Incandesto! (8.16)
Flora thinks impossible stuff happens all the time, even though she's a cynic. Perhaps it's because she spends a lot of time reading superhero comics, or maybe it's because she's not really a cynic after all.
Quote #4
He was a squirrel. Could he be a superhero, too? (8.26)
This seemingly innocent question is pretty much what everyone asks when they first encounter Ulysses. Yet the question isn't innocent at all. It shows us that even though Ulysses has pretty incredible powers for a squirrel, people around him still doubt his capabilities.
Quote #5
She had been dreaming about a squirrel. In her dream, he was flying with his legs straight out in front of him and his tail straight out behind him. He was a squirrel on his way to save someone! He looked supremely, magnificently heroic. (14.4)
It's not too long before this actually happens in the diner and then later in the woods. Did you notice that every time the squirrel does something heroic, the book changes into comic book form?
Quote #6
And speaking of treacherousness, things were not, in any way, progressing as Flora had planned. She had envisioned Ulysses fighting crime, criminals, villainy, darkness, treachery; she had imagined him flying (holy bagumba!) through the world with her (Flora Buckman!) at his side. Instead, here she was leading a temporarily blind boy through her own backyard. It was anticlimactic, to say the least. (18.17)
Just because Ulysses's super powers aren't what Flora imagined doesn't make them any less amazing. He fights crime and evil, just on a much smaller level than most superheroes. But then again, that makes sense since he's smaller than most superheroes, too, what with being a squirrel and all.
Quote #7
She had a superhero under her pajamas. She didn't have to listen to her mother, or anybody else for that matter. A new day was dawning, a girl-with-a-superhero kind of day. "I'm going to go change now," she said. (22.21)
The fact that Flora has a superhero friend and sidekick means that she starts feeling braver and more empowered, too. Check out how she describes the day, all just because Ulysses is with her.
Quote #8
"Ulysses is a superhero," said Flora. "But he hasn't really done anything heroic yet. Mostly he's just flown around. He lifted a vacuum cleaner over his head. He wrote some poetry. He hasn't saved anyone, though. And that's what superheroes are supposed to do, save people." (39.41)
As she tells Dr. Meescham about her superhero friend, we can hear the doubt in her voice about whether he's a real superhero or not. Part of what Flora needs to realize is that there are different types of heroes out there.
Quote #9
"I want things to be normal. I want a daughter who is happy. I want her to have friends who aren't squirrels. I don't want her to end up unloved and all alone in the world. But it doesn't matter, does it?" (48.23).
Flora's mom says this when she's kidnapping Ulysses. It makes us think about what is normal and what is supernatural. In Flora's case, poetry-writing squirrels might be her normal, and who are we to judge?
Quote #10
The cat who was defeated by a superhero squirrel. I will certainly keep an eye out for him. And I hate to sound like a broken record, but may I just say again what a delight it is to see? Talk about being born anew. Nothing, nothing, will ever again escape my notice. (65.3)
To William, getting his sight back is a supernatural thing. Sure he's surrounded by a flying squirrel, but sight is much more amazing to him. It's things like this that make Flora realize that even everyday things like seeing can be extraordinary to people.