Fantasy; Family Drama
You might not see any imaginary creatures (think: elves, trolls, unicorns, dragons) like you do in most fantasies, but Flora and Ulysses still makes the cut for the genre. Why? It's got an out-of-this-world imagination. Where else would you find a squirrel who writes poetry, or a vacuum cleaner powerful enough to suck up said squirrel? Trust us, all that crazy stuff going down on almost every page means this one's a fantasy, and we're just along for the ride.
This book also hangs out a bit in family drama land. While it's very much Flora and Ulysses's story, so much of what happens is in response to Flora's family, so it's safe to say they play an important role in driving the plot. After all, if her mom and dad made Flora feel loved and accepted for who she is, Ulysses wouldn't have nearly as much work cut out for himself, which means we wouldn't have nearly as much book to read.