How It All Goes Down
It all started with a vacuum cleaner. Usually, that's not the way superhero stories start, but this one isn't like any we've read before. When Mrs. Tootie Tickham is vacuuming her lawn (yes, vacuuming), she accidently sucks up a squirrel. Gulp. She feels awful about killing the little guy, but her next-door neighbor, Flora, comes running out to help. Flora might be a natural-born cynic, but she's read her fair share of what to do in disastrous events like this, so she gives the little guy mouth-to-mouth and—miraculously—he's alive.
But he's not just alive. He's back and badder than ever, and little dude's got superhero powers now. Like he lifts the huge vacuum cleaner up with his little paw. That's a hefty load for a squirrel, right? Right. Flora decides she likes the guy and names him Ulysses. Tootie leaves a little confused, but Flora knows this must be the beginning of something special.
So Flora takes him home, but when her mom finds out, she gets in big trouble. Worse? Her mom even gives her dad a shovel and asks him to, um, arrange the squirrel's funeral for her, and Flora hears the exchange. Flora's parents are divorced, so now she's off for some quality time with her daddy-o.
Before she goes, Flora catches Ulysses typing on her mom's typewriter, which makes her mom ticked; Flora thinks it's awesome, though, because this proves Ulysses has special powers. Then she meets William Spiver, Tootie's great-nephew. Flora's mom thinks he could be a friend for Flora. But William Spiver is a little...strange. He loves to ramble on and on; he wears dark glasses since he's temporarily blind from some mysterious trauma he won't talk about; and he only likes to be called by his full name. Seriously. Flora thinks he's a weirdo at first, and hates the fact that her mom thinks she needs a friend.
Flora and her dad head off to the diner, with Ulysses in tow. She asks her dad about the shovel in the back of the car, but he gets all cagey and doesn't tell her anything. When they get to the diner, Flora insists on taking Ulysses inside; her dad doesn't love the idea, but he eventually agrees. Too bad Flora didn't listen to him initially, though, because inside the diner, a waitress sees Ulysses and screams. And then the squirrel jumps in her hair, which only makes matters worse. Ulysses goes flying, and lands headfirst by smashing into the door. Ouch.
Flora takes him to one Dr. Meescham, who lives in her dad's building. While there, the doc says all kinds of wacky things about trolls and magic, and helps nurse Ulysses back to health. It turns out he's okay, and he wakes up just in time to save Flora's dad from an attack by the landlord's mean cat (Mr. Klaus). Phew. Her dad is relieved and thankful to the little guy, so he promises not to kill Ulysses.
The next day, they go back to Flora's mom's place, where she is annoyed that she still has a squirrel to deal with. After a big fight, Flora's mom kidnaps Ulysses and takes him out to the woods. When Flora wakes up, she finds a note from Ulysses saying goodbye, so she's sure her mom is up to something. She wakes William Spiver and Tootie up and they all go out in search of the squirrel.
Meanwhile, Flora's mom tells Ulysses that it's nothing personal, but she just can't have her daughter having a squirrel as a BFF. She plans to kill him. He clings tightly to a poem he wrote for Flora, and at the last second, jumps away and flies through the air.
He eventually makes it to Dr. Meescham's place by flying through her window. She welcomes him, feeds him, and then tries to figure out what went down; soon after, Flora and gang show up. Flora is happy to see Ulysses and tells him she loves him. Aw. William finally shares his family drama with Flora and then regains his sight (um, magic). And Flora's dad's just glad everyone is okay.
When Flora's mom shows up, she's got a lot of explaining to do. She tells the truth—that she kidnapped Ulysses—and apologizes to her daughter, saying she just loves her and wants the best for her, that's all. Flora's never really felt loved by her mom before, so now at least she knows her mom hearts her. She's glad Ulysses escaped and is a true superhero, plus now she and William are friends, too. They all decide to read Ulysses's poem to Flora, which tells her how amazing and beautiful life is—including her.