Flora and Ulysses is a novel that centers on the power of words. From the first page, it is clear that words are important through the variety of fonts and textual techniques used. Flora “knows a good word when she hears it” (23), and picks the perfect name for her new companion—Ulysses. Ulysses uses the power of words to create poems and showcase his thoughts after becoming illuminated. William speaks in “sad, beautiful sentences” (206) which at first irk Flora, but soon become the things she misses about him when he is not around. Flora also loves comic books, which use words in creative, visual ways; comic strips are incorporated throughout the novel for this reason. Names also serve an important purpose, as Incandesto means “to glow,” Ulysses refers to The Odyssey, and Flora is referred to by her father as a lovely flower.

The novel’s fonts and text sizes change somewhat frequently, resembling the comics that Flora loves and helping young readers engage with the story. Complex words are inserted into the text with context, often directly explained by either the narrator or one of the characters. Flora often reflects on new words, and the ways they relate to each other: “Capacious.