Dumplin' by Julie Murphy

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.

This book was recommended to me by a coworker with the words "I wish this book had been around when I was a teenager."  I can't say it effected me as profoundly but I did really like this book.

I liked Willowdean. She is sassy and confident but also insecure and slightly petty. She wants to be "good" and to do right but sometimes cannot reconcile with her own insecurities. Because she is judged only on how she looks by so many people, she can't understand people who see her for herself. I like that most of this book was about Willowdean and her coming to terms with herself and with her body. It's a hard thing that most struggle with well into adulthood and for a teenager is extremely difficult.


I'm glad it wasn't just a fat girl in a beauty pageant book. This was an outsider type book. Or someone who cannot get past their own self to see what others see type book. It was about a girl who wants to be loved but doesn't know she deserves it type book