For fans of John Green and Rainbow Rowell comes this powerful novel with the most fearless heroine-self-proclaimed fat girl Willowdean Dickson-from Julie Murphy, the acclaimed author of Side Effects May Vary. With starry Texas nights, red candy suckers, Dolly Parton songs, and a wildly unforgettable heroine-Dumplin' is guaranteed to steal your heart. Dubbed "Dumplin'" by her former beauty queen mom, Willowdean 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 Teen Blue Bonnet 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.
I enjoyed getting to go on this coming of age journey with Willowdean. She was such a captivating MC. She struggled with a lot of things most teenagers struggle with, and Murphy set up the perfect storm for "Dumplin" to do some serious soul searching. There are so many really sweet and cute moments. There are also many moments that show how much Willowdean had grown up over the course of this story. Dumplin' is also filled with fabulous supporting characters, who I grew to care about. My only complaint was the very end, I am an epilogue girl, there just was not enough after for me. BUT, I just saw there is going to be an after book. Something for me to look forward to.
