Dumplin'

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. 



It's safe to say I enjoyed this book. As with many Young Adult novels, it was really fun and goofy at times, and for the most part, really positive and uplifting.

I think one of the most important messages this book has to offer is that even the most confident people have their insecurities at some point. They may be very well hidden even if they are a constant in a person's life, or they could be only temporary under special circumstances. We ALL have our weaknesses and weak moments. And they can stem from a multitude of different things. The could be appearence related, or intellegence, monetary, status... any basis really for any person. It is not unusual. And that is OK. It's a struggle to overcome, and everyone has them.

As much as this is a "body positive" book, I think it's important that the book validates that everyone needs to feel beautiful. That doesn't mean that you need to buy into what the media presents as beautiful-- you do not need to be a size 00 in order to be beautiful. Willowdean excels at this in the novel and really is a role model for all women. She knows who she is and doesn't compromise that. She is herself to the fullest the way that I could only wish I could be. 

The problem with this book is that I found there were too many unanswered questions at the end of it. I don't think it needs an entire sequel, but an epilogue would have been nice.

This is one of those books that I think all women could takes something from. And after you're done reading it, get your teenage (or maybe even preteen) daughter to read it. Talk about it. Hopefully you will make a positive connection over it.