Dumplin'

I have only read a few YA novels before, and while I enjoyed them, I didn't feel love or that I would want to buy copies and put them into the hands of every young girl I know. Well, that's how I feel about this book.

I loved the main character, the challenges she faces, the mistakes she makes and how she finds her voice. It's refreshing that she is a strong and confident girl at the opening of the book, but faces challenges that help her determine how she wants to progress forward and who she wants to surround herself with. I found it all very realistic to situations that young teens face and was impressed at how light and serious the book could be at the same time.

Highly recommended

Willowdean’s mother has a pet name for her: Dumplin’. Although it’s a term of endearment, when a girl is overweight, it’s also a constant reminder of her body. Luckily, she only uses the term Dumplin in the house. Knowing that her mother once won and now organizes the Miss Teen Blue Bonnet pageant only makes Willow more cognizant of the way she looks and adds to her concern that she is not living up to her mother’s standards.

In the summer between sophomore and junior year Willowdean is working at the fast food store, Harpy’s. Working in the kitchen is the gorgeous Bo Larsen who all the girls lust after. When he starts paying attention to her, she gets nervous. Why would a gorgeous guy like him take an interest in show more her…that’s what everyone would say, she thinks.

It has been six months since her Aunt Lucy passed away. Lucy, obese at 500 lbs., died as a result of a heart attack. While going through her night table, Willowdean finds a blank application to enter the 1994 Miss Teen Blue Bonnet pageant. The rules do not require entrants to be pencil thin with long straight blond hair, etc. The only thing it requires is parental consent. Thinking that Lucy let her dreams pass her by, Willowdean vows not to let the same thing happen to her and she enters the pageant (after guilting her mother into consenting), which convinces several of the other high school outcasts to enter as well. However, it also prompts her best friend, Ellen, to enter which defeats the whole purpose. Ellen could actually win. Before she can stop herself, Willowdean tries to get El to withdraw, which she will not do and which causes a rift in their friendship.

Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy is the story of ‘misfits’ who are comfortable with themselves for the most part. Willowdean’s friends (Millie, Amanda and Hannah) all have something a school bully (i.e. Patrick Thomas) would love to pick on and he does. Yet they they pay him no heed and do what they need/want to do.

The message I got from Dumplin’ is that it’s time to change the norm and it is starting very slowly. France is the most recent entry into the small (what I’ll call elite) group of countries banning ultra thin models, joining Israel, Spain and Italy. Why does someone need to look undernourished to be considered beautiful? Why can’t someone with a limp be beautiful or have teeth that haven’t been capped or orthodontured?

Julie Murphy makes her point in a fun book. The ending is believable. The feelings of Mille, Amanda and Hannah also ring true. While it might be a light-hearted look at a serious issue, it is sensitive and realistic. A great book! show less

This is the perfect YA book. A solid coming of age story with friendship, romance, self discovery and a completely real set of characters. The heroine is believably confident and insecure at the same time. There are many reviews here saying the book isn't body positive and let's just say I disagree. It's about accepting that your body isn't perfect, it's flawed. And flaws are okay. You can hate your body sometimes and that's okay. You can love yourself when others don't and that's okay, too. The premise sounded awful (beauty pageant?!) but I was charmed by this book.

Don't get me wrong, I didn't HATE this book, but it had so many frustrations I can't rate it higher. Will was a refreshing character - at first - but she dissolves. It's more reasonable to conclude this is due to a) age, b) grief/trauma, and c) her mother. Unfortunately that doesn't mean she becomes likable, and she irks me almost non-stop once she jumps on the selfish wagon and leads it to the top. The writing style was fine, but this was filled with typical YA woes -- love triangle doom, angst, and somewhat silly friendship fights.

Understandably, Will has her struggles. One of the strongest parts of the novel was her loss over Lucy, her aunt who she adored and saw as a mother figure (her own mother, yikes). This adds layers through show more the grieving process, including a few scenes of anger and fights with her mother cleaning out Lucy's room once and for all. There's touching scenes and a tribute to Dolly Parton as a major theme throughout, which was fun.

Mitch as the loss was a sweetheart and I knew through chapters of forboding that would end badly. I don't see his interest in Will, however, as she isn't exactly a fun person. She doesn't seem to have hobbies other than work, doesn't like holidays, disses his interest in Halloween despite his efforts, and says she guesses her favorite holiday is 4th of July. 4th of July for a teenager who is not patriotic and does not come from a military family? I get some don't like Halloween, although her reasons for it were obnoxious, but not liking Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, either? Trust me, most in the South celebrate the same way you do on 4th of July as you do on Memorial Day and Labor Day. She didn't seem to be into video games he was into, his movies, or sports. I'm not sure what they had in common other than he was sweet. Bo was a fine but not much of a personality. If we only didn't have this annoying love triangle and Will using Mitch callously with mixed signals, the book would have likely rose to three stardom.

Points for a plus-sized character, having her find strength in her uniqueness, and for the author delving into deep topics. She wasn't a role-model as described, however. Her mother may have been annoying, but she point blank tells her that she's wasted her life, her one crowning glory was a beauty pageant that meant nothing, and that she is pretty much now worthless. She uses a boy who is sweet and tries to help her. She internally fat-shames another friend who is bigger than her, and skinny-shames other girls. She quits without any notice on two bosses who hired her. She is bothered by another friend's large teeth and even asks her why she just doesn't get them fixed. She makes a snobbery snipe toward Bo because she thought his family was rich when she founds out he went to a private school. Her personality was in no way all-accepting and non-judgemental here.

Unfortunately the deep topics become muddled as shallow cliches drowned them out. show less

Oh gosh. This was charming. I kind of wish I could give it to teen-me? I’m not sure which part deserves the bigger mention—the way Will’s comfortable in her body but also insecure because of how everyone treats her, or how all the teens actually sound and feel like teens to me, flaws and opinions and all, or Will’s warmth and determination, or the way I kind of feel like I’ve been to Texas now, or all the f-yeah moments, large and small. Definitely one of the better books I’ve read this year. It’s not just for teens, either.

8.5/10

I missed Willowdean the second the book was over. Romance, beauty pageants - not my usual favorites - but Willowdean could talk about her grocery shopping list and it would be funny, sweet, moving, and make me question my assumptions.

I’ve Finally read Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy! I had a lot of reasons to read this one: Netflix adaptation, friend recommendation, the body positivity, Southern YA writer, Dolly Parton, and all the lists I’ve seen it on.

Dumplin’ is the story of Willowdean (“Will”, “Dumplin”)Dixon, an overweight, Dolly Parton loving, confident, hardworking, high school girl in the small town of Clover City, Texas. This town is known for pretty much two things: football and the Miss Teen Blue Bonnet Beauty Pageant. The second of which, happens to be ran by Will’s mom.

Willowdean has never much cared for the pageant— that is until the summer after her 10th grade year, when it seems like everything is changing. Will was very close with her show more late Aunt Lucy, with whom she shared her love for Dolly Parton, and is not only having a hard time without her there, but is also having trouble understanding her mother’s grieving process. On top of this, Will gets in a fight with her best friend Ellen and worries about the distance that seems to be growing between them. Then there’s the cute, mysterious boy that works at her part time job, Bo.

With all of these changes, Willowdean begins to have doubts about herself when usually her self-confidence doesn’t leave any room for it. Now she begins to worry that she may not “be enough” for her friend, someone like Bo, or even her own mom. To help prove to herself and the rest of Clover City that she IS enough, and more, she decides to join the pageant for the first time. While she may just be joining to prove that she can just like anyone else, she begins to realize this “simple” act holds much more meaning.

“it’s this reminder that no matter who you are, there will always be someone prettier or smarter or thinner. Perfection is nothing more than a phantom shadow we’re all chasing.”

With all of these doubts stirring around, will Willowdean still feel worthy of being in the pageant according to herself? And what about the girls that have jumped on board this mini “revolution” as they call it? Can Will feel worthy of the group of girls that she has inspired to challenge the status quo of what “beauty” should mean?

“I get called a freak everyday. I might as well make a show of it.”

This book has amazing things to say about being body positive, building self-esteem, the definition of “beauty”, grief, loving someone, loyalty, and more. I personally connected with a lot of what was said since I have never felt really comfortable with my own body (particularly because of my weight). I was bullied in middle school myself and understand how difficult that is to deal with and how easy it is to let that become the new definition of yourself. It is so easy to start believing the people who tell you that you don’t deserve the same things as everyone else because you don’t look a certain way. And it becomes second nature after a while to start reinforcing those ideas yourself through negative thinking and self-doubt. This can even be a major contributor to the onset of mental illnesses and general dissatisfaction in life. Having a protagonist who is going through these same doubts, trying to figure out who she is, sifting through the pressures of what she should be, battling against the ideas of a societal norm of “beauty”—it is so very wonderful and necessary.

“I know that fat girls are supposed to be allergic to pools or whatever, but I love swimming. I mean, I’m not stupid. I know people stare, but they can’t blame me for wanting to cool off. And why should it even matter? What about having huge, bumpy thighs means that I need to apologize?”

Yes, there were times when I was frustrated by how self-centered Willowdean could seem. There were also times where I was like why in the world would want to be with Bo over Mitch, BUT I am not saying that these tendencies are unreal for someone going into the 11th grade either. Overall I really did enjoy this book, the main character, the setting, the story, and the positive message behind it. Now I need to watch the Netflix adaptation! I give Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy a 4/5 stars.

“Plus, having sex doesn’t make you a woman. That is so freaking cliché.”

★★★★☆ show less