Dumplin’

Today’s post is on Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy. 384 pages long and is published by Balzer + Bray. The cover is black with the main character in center in a red dress. The intended reader is someone who likes young adult books, strong woman finding their way, and uplifting stories. There is mild foul language, mild sexuality, and no violence in this book. The story is told from first person close of the main character. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the book- Self-proclaimed fat girl Willowdean Dickson (dubbed “Dumplin’” by her former beauty queen mom) has always been at home in her own skin. Her thoughts on having the ultimate bikini body? Put a bikini on your body. With her all-American beauty best friend, Ellen, by her side, things have always worked…until Will takes a job at Harpy’s, the local fast-food joint. There she meets Private School Bo, a hot former jock. Will isn’t surprised to find herself attracted to Bo. But she is surprised when he seems to like her back.
Instead of finding new heights of self-assurance in her relationship with Bo, Will starts to doubt herself. So she sets out to take back her confidence by doing the most horrifying thing she can imagine: entering the Miss Clover City beauty pageant—along with several other unlikely candidates—to show the world that she deserves to be up there as much as any twiggy girl does. Along the way, she’ll shock the hell out of Clover City—and maybe herself most of all.
With starry Texas nights, red candy suckers, Dolly Parton songs, and a wildly unforgettable heroine—Dumplin’ is guaranteed to steal your heart.

Review- I loved this book. It is wonderful, empowering, well-written, and some great characters. Willowdean is awesome, she is a very real mix of confident and unsure, she is growing into an adult with all the changes that can bring, and she is learning how to handle that. Add in a ‘perfect’ mom, beautiful thin best friend, hot guy who is into her, and you have a great mix. I liked that the real villain was what Willowdean thought things should be, how Bo should not really be into her, how her mother is ashamed of her, how she cannot have ‘nice’ things because she is not a size four. These issues are not magically fixed at the end of the book but Willowdean is getting some perspective on herself, life, and where the real world meets them both. I like where the book ended with Willowdean being happy with her role in the pageant and the friends she makes on the way. I highly recommend this book.

I give this book a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.