Author: Julie Murphy
Publisher: Balzer + Bray (Harper Collins)
Year: 2015
Genre: Contemporary
Age: YA 13+
Willowdean Dickson is the daughter of a former beauty queen
in Clover City, TX. Dubbed Dumplin by her mother & deceased Auny Lucy
because if her size. The town is famous for its yearly pageant the Miss Teen
Blue Bonnet beauty pageant. Willow works at a local fast food joint called
Harpy’s, they sell hot dogs & burgers & she loathes every minute of it.
Except when she works with the cook Bo. He’s a Catholic private school boy with
sparkling eyes, full lips, & an obsession with red lollipops. Willow’s best
friend is Ellen Dryver & she’s a skinny All-American teenager with a
boyfriend named Tim, the two are stuck together at the hip most of the time.
Aunt Lucy was more of a mom to Willow than her actual mom.
So Willow is really upset by Lucy’s unexpected passing. The three girls all shared
a love of Dolly Parton, Willow finds comfort in the old record player Lucy left
behind & the wail of “Jolene” when she’s down. So when she’s having
problems with Bo, Dolly is there to comfort her & Lucy too in a way.
When Bo & her’s secret relationship goes by the way
side, Mitch, a handsome football player is there to be her friend & maybe
more. Willow’s mom starts to clean out Lucy’s room as pageant season draws near
so she can turn it into a craft room. Willow is furious that her mom wants to
let Lucy go so soon. So to quell her anger & do something Lucy never could
do she decides to enter the pageant. Little does she know she’s inspiring a
whole flock out outcasts at her school to join her.
There’s Millie who is about twice Willow’s size, Hannah who
has “horse teeth”, Amanda who wears special shoes to balance her feet, &
Ellen who decides if Willow is going to enter she has to also. It isn’t long
before Ellen gets made at Willow for making the pageant all about herself &
helping the other girls. Ellen finds friendship in a fellow contestant & coworker
at the store she works at in the mall, Sweet 16, & pushes Willow away. The
group have a long way to go to be ready for the pageant & they enlist the
help of two of Lucy’s old friends Lee & Dale who are impersonators at a
drag club nearby.
As the pageant draws closer Bo transfers to Willow’s school
which creates tension between him & Mitch over Willow. She has to decide
who is going to be her escort at the pageant & possibly more than that.
Willow is also struggling with finding a talent, changing it at the last minute
without panel approval creates a problem. And then there’s her friendship with
Ellen, will she fix it in time? But everything surprisingly comes together in
the end.
Willowdean Dickson is Dumplin & she goes big or goes
home!
Likes: This books was hilarious! There’s southern charm
& love is radiating off every page.
It was great to see a “fat girl” stand up for her dreams
& take no prisoners.
The friendship between Ellen & Willow is great & it’s
the kind you hope to find in real life.
Dislikes: This book was slow…you don’t even get to the pageant
part until almost 300 pages in, then the actual event doesn’t take place until the
last 40 pages or so.
The ending between Willow & the boy she picks is kinda
lame but if you’re a teenage girl & you aren’t jaded by love you might like
it. Us older girls know that's not how it happens.
Rating:
Rating:
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