Details

Length: 371
Story Build: quickly paced 
Character development: solid with personality 
Age Recommendation: 7th and 8th grade (with parent knowledge), high school
Reasoning:, language, sexual content

Summary and Review

I devoured Dumplin’ in a very short amount of time. Maybe 2 days? And I was in the middle of the school year, so that tells you something. Julia Murphy writes with such ease, creating characters and a world that you just want to jump right into. 

Dumplin’ is a novel about redemption and forgiveness, friendship, and love–both for others and self. Willowdean is a confident (or she appears to be) young woman who doesn’t seem to care that she may have a larger set of curves, who works at a burger joint, and who is passionately obsessed with anything Dolly Parton. With her best friend Ellen, Willowdean, or Dumplin’ as she is affectionately called by her mother, is good. She doesn’t need anything or anyone else, except maybe her aunt back who passed away before the story begins. 

However, at this burger joint is a boy named Bo who is good looking, clearly sought after, and really into Dumplin’. While this may come as a shock to Willowdean, she attempts to embrace this newfound romance, but it comes with a cost— her self-esteem. Suddenly every curve and area of pudginess feels awkward for Dumplin’, and she becomes self-conscious. This is new territory for her as she has portrayed confidence throughout her young adulthood. 

What makes matters even more sensitive is her gorgeous and fit mother who also happens to be the head of the Miss Teen Blue Bonnet beauty pageant. While Dumplin’ usually uses the girls who participate as target practice for her quick jokes and jabs about the pageant lifestyle, she finds herself entering to prove a point: that she has confidence and it doesn’t matter what size you are—you are beautiful no matter what. 

This seems like a noble pursuit, but it comes with sacrifices. Dumplin’ manages to gain some friends while alienating others and consistently arguing with her mother, who can’t fathom why Willowdean would ever enter other than to embarrass her. She also struggles with Bo and the effect he has on her, which leads her down paths that are ultimately learning experiences for her. 

Murphy, as always, poses questions about identity and confidence. Are we more than what we look like? Can we move beyond what people expect of us? Can we let others in that cause a change that we might be scared of? These are all important themes that the author addresses with her signature witty characters and creative world. 

Celebrations

Again, Murphy’s characters are a major celebration for me. I loved all of them. I loved that she had Bo suck on a red lollipop and that Willowdean was obsessed with Dolly Parton. These little, specific quirks made her characters seem more real, and I wanted to know them and be known by them. I really enjoyed the storyline—girl meets boy, girl gets boy?, girl needs to figure herself out without the boy…. There is a sense of strong female empowerment in this story, and I am totally behind it. It’s also a quick read that has a powerful message, which is great for teen readers.

Hesitations

For reals, my friends, I just wanted the story to continue with theses characters. I know she has a sequel titled Puddin’ that I didn’t pick up after finishing because it wasn’t about Dumplin’ or Bo. When I finished the book, I missed them. If this was a review about the movie, there would be more hesitations, but the book does a great job at being a really solid YA read.