Tootie Tickham accidentally vacuums up a squirrel while testing her new Ulysses 2000X vacuum cleaner in her yard.

Flora rushes to help the injured squirrel and gives it CPR using knowledge from her Incandesto comics, saving its life.

The revived squirrel lifts the Ulysses 2000X vacuum cleaner above his head, revealing his first superpower.

Flora names the squirrel Ulysses after the vacuum that sucked him up and carries him home with her.

In the middle of the night, Ulysses finds Flora's mother's typewriter and types his very first words.

Tootie and her great-nephew William Spiver arrive at the Buckman house asking to confirm what they witnessed with the squirrel.

Ulysses types a poem at Tootie's house declaring his love for Flora, letters, the world, and food.

Flora eavesdrops and hears her mother instruct her father to put Ulysses in a sack and kill him with a shovel.

At the Giant Do-Nut diner, Ulysses leaps from a waiter's hair and discovers for the first time that he can fly.

George laughs boisterously all the way home from the diner and promises Flora he will never kill Ulysses.

Flora confronts her mother about wanting Ulysses killed and accuses her of being an archnemesis.

Flora's mother forces Ulysses to type a fake farewell letter, then grabs him by the tail and shoves him into a sack.

Ulysses remembers who he is and flies off into the night, escaping Flora's mother just as she raises a shovel.

Flora, William, and Tootie find Ulysses safe and perched on Dr. Meescham's shoulder inside her apartment.

Flora's mother admits to kidnapping Ulysses, reads his poem aloud to everyone, and Flora realizes her mother loves her.

Flora's neighbor Tootie accidentally vacuums up a squirrel, and Flora saves him with CPR knowledge from her comic books, giving him superpowers. Named Ulysses, the transformed squirrel begins typing poetry and demonstrating remarkable abilities, drawing the attention of Flora's skeptical mother. Flora and Ulysses form an alliance against her mother, who secretly plots to have Ulysses killed, while their adventures reignite the bond between Flora and her estranged father. After Flora's mother kidnaps Ulysses and takes him into the woods with a shovel, Ulysses escapes by flying off into the night. Flora races to find him with the help of William and Tootie, and the group reunites at Dr. Meescham's apartment. In the emotional resolution, Flora's mother finally admits what she has done and reads Ulysses's poem aloud, and Flora understands for the first time that her mother truly loves her.

The headline events that drive Flora and Ulysses's adventure from beginning to end.

Donald Tickham presents his wife Tootie with a Ulysses 2000X vacuum cleaner as a birthday gift, which she greets without enthusiasm.

Flora reads Incandesto comics during summer break, defiantly ignoring a contract her mother made her sign about real literature.

The revived squirrel stares up at Flora surrounded by sunlight and feels the entire world has become beautiful and new.

Flora shows Ulysses her Incandesto comic books and explains what superheroes do with their powers to fight evil.

Flora finds Ulysses curled up sleeping on her pillow after dinner and feels, for once, that she is not alone.

Flora's mother discovers cheese puff dust coating her typewriter and angrily confronts Flora the following morning.

Tootie faints after watching Ulysses type his poem, while William dismisses the poem as not particularly good poetry.

George watches Ulysses soar around the Giant Do-Nut and begins quoting Flora's Incandesto comics in Dolores's voice.

George uses his habit of deflecting questions to sneak himself and Flora out of the diner before anyone calls the police.

Ulysses defends George from the landlord's cat Mr. Klaus by picking the cat up and hurling it down the hallway.

Flora declares to her mother that she wants to move in with her father rather than continue living at home.

Flora's mother responds to Flora's declaration by saying Flora's absence would make her life easier, deeply wounding Flora.

William reveals he was banished from home by his mother after pushing his stepfather's truck into a sinkhole.

Flora and William walk along the dark highway holding hands as William cries about wanting to go home.

Tootie saves Flora's parents from the attacking cat Mr. Klaus by hitting him over the head with the shepherdess lamp.

The story begins with Donald gifting Tootie an overpowered vacuum cleaner, unknowingly setting the chain of events in motion, while Flora spends her summer buried in Incandesto comics. As Ulysses grows into his illuminated self, Flora introduces him to the superhero world she loves, and for the first time since her parents' divorce, she no longer feels entirely alone. Their shared adventures—including Ulysses's flight at the Giant Do-Nut and his confrontation with the landlord's vicious cat—help awaken Flora's grief-stricken father. Conflicts with Flora's mother reach a breaking point when Flora declares she wants to live with her father, and her mother's cold, dismissive reply leaves Flora deeply wounded. Meanwhile, William reveals the painful truth behind his fake blindness, and he and Flora comfort each other as they search through the night. The confrontation ends when Tootie wields the shepherdess lamp as a weapon, saving both of Flora's parents from the ferocious cat Mr. Klaus.

The quieter moments and character revelations that enrich the story's emotional core.

Flora discovers that Ulysses can understand everything she says to him when she speaks to him in her room.

Flora warns Tootie not to tell anyone about the squirrel's powers, recognizing the world will misunderstand him.

William Spiver appears at the Buckman door wearing dark glasses, claiming to be temporarily blind and smelling squirrel.

Tootie tricks Flora's mother into handing Ulysses over so the group can take him back to Tootie's house to type.

Flora stands beside her father at the Giant Do-Nut and holds his hand as they watch Ulysses fly together.

Dr. Meescham reveals she is a Doctor of Philosophy, not the medical doctor Flora hoped would treat Ulysses's head injury.

Dr. Meescham tells Flora that her father has sat on her crying couch many times, weeping over being separated from his daughter.

Dr. Meescham uses her painting of a giant squid attacking a ship to teach Flora that loneliness causes people to do terrible things.

Flora places her hand on her father's chest during the drive home and finds his heartbeat strong, certain, and large.

Flora's mother agrees to let Flora and Ulysses stay together, but behaves so robotically that Flora grows deeply suspicious.

Flora dreams of sitting on a peaceful riverbank beside William, holding his hand and naming the river the Incandesto.

Flora wakes to find Ulysses missing and immediately recognizes the typed goodbye letter in the typewriter as a fake.

William trips over the lamp cord in the dark, his glasses shatter, and he shouts that he can see the stars.

Ulysses spots Dr. Meescham's open window from across the city and flies inside to seek her help after escaping into the night.

Ulysses watches the sun rising outside Dr. Meescham's window and plans to write many more poems about love and future hopes.

From the moment Flora discovers Ulysses can understand her speech, she commits to protecting him and believing in the impossible. William's mysterious arrival and Dr. Meescham's philosophical wisdom gradually deepen Flora's understanding of the lonely, hurting people around her—especially her father. At Dr. Meescham's apartment, Flora learns how loneliness drives people to destructive behavior, a truth that will later explain her mother's drastic actions toward Ulysses. After a suspicious truce, Flora's mother reveals her true intentions by kidnapping Ulysses and forcing him to type a fake farewell letter, and Flora wakes up knowing instantly it is a lie. Flora's bond with William deepens through the crisis, culminating in the moment his broken glasses free him from his self-imposed blindness and he sees the world clearly again. Ulysses closes the story watching the sunrise and planning poems about the people he loves, the things that happened, and the future he hopes for.

The key discoveries and emotional shifts that transform Flora's understanding of herself and those she loves.