Tuesday, January 29, 2019

REVIEW for Dumplin' by Julie Murphy

Paperback, 400 pages
Published November 27th 2018 by Balzer + Bray 


Soon to be a Netflix film (Release Date: December 7, 2018)
Featuring Jennifer Aniston, Danielle Macdonald, and Dove Cameron, as well as a soundtrack from Dolly Parton!



Soon to be a Netflix film--featuring Jennifer Aniston, Danielle Macdonald, and Dove Cameron, as well as a soundtrack from Dolly Parton! 

The movie tie-in edition of the #1 New York Times bestseller and feel-good YA of the year--about Willowdean Dixon, the fearless, funny, and totally unforgettable heroine who takes on her small town's beauty pageant.

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 girl does.

Along the way, she'll shock the hell out of Clover City--and maybe herself most of all. 

My Thoughts…

I have heard so much about this book becoming a NetFlix movie that when I saw it was available to read I couldn’t pass it by.    I picked up this book thinking it’d be a quick, fun, and easy YA book.   While it was all of that it was also a look at real life.    How many times do you walk past someone and have a thought about what they wear, how they style their hair or just their looks in general?   Dumplin’ brings to attention that how everyone should be able to follow their dreams, how a person who doesn’t fit a stereotype can be just as talented, beautiful, or able as the person who does fit the stereotype. 

Willowdean is the daughter of a beauty pageant winner.   She is overweight, calls herself fat.   She doesn’t have much self esteem.  Then she decides to enter the beauty pageant that her mother won so many years ago.  Little did she know that other girls in her class would enter also, they would make waves, they would be laughed at, but most of all they would become friends, they would shake up their town, and they would prove that they are people who deserve respect also. 

The relationship between hot, jock Bo and Willowdean was tough.     It was a secret, without really meaning to be.     They went to different schools, worked together and hung out after work, and didn’t have much of a chance to spend time together.    The Bo ends up at her school and they see each other daily.    Willowdean doesn’t feel worthy of Bo but Bo sets out to win her over.    I love how opposite these two are and how drawn to each other they are.    They have a true to high school relationship where the opinion of peers matter, they are unsure of each other, and truly like each other.   

This is an amazing YA book that both youth and adults will truly enjoy and learn from.     I am excited for the NetFlix release and love that I got the chance to read the book before the movie is released.

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Purchase at Amazon or Barnes and Noble


JULIE MURPHY


Julie Murphy lives in North Texas with her husband who loves her, her dog who adores her, and her cats who tolerate her. When she’s not writing or trying to catch stray cats, she can be found reading, traveling, or watching movies so bad they’re good. Her debut contemporary young adult novel, Side Effects May Vary, is out from Balzer +, Bray/HarperCollins and has been well-received by Kirkus, School Library Journal, VOYA, Booklist, Seventeen Magazine, and Teen Vogue. Dumplin, Julie’s sophomore novel has received glowing reviews including two stars from Publishers Weekly and Booklist. Film rights have been optioned by Disney.



DUMPLIN’ should be required reading for anyone who has ever felt even slightly uncomfortable in his or her skin. Julie Murphy’s star continues to shine with this groundbreaking, poignant story that will surely change lives.”
John Corey Whaley, award-winning author of Noggin and Where Things Come Back

“Genuine, romantic, and with a dash of Texan charm, this is a novel that celebrates being who you are while also acknowledging that it’s incredibly difficult to do.”
The Horn Book


Awards and Other Acclaim:
ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults
An ALA Top Ten Pick for Reluctant Readers 
An Indies Choice Best Young Adult Honor Book
Best Book of the Year & Best Young Adult Contemporary Novel by Romantic Times
New York Public Library Best Book of the Year 
Chicago Public Library Best Book of the Year 
Tumblr Reblog Book Club Pick
Amazon Best Book of the Year
B&N Best Book of the Year
Booklist Editor’s choice
Spirt of Texas High School Reading List
Tayshas (Texas Teen) Reading ListIndigo Best Book of the Year




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