Dumplin'

Written by Julie Murphy

Narrated by Eileen Stevens

Now a popular Netflix feature film, starring Jennifer Aniston, Danielle Macdonald, and Dove Cameron, as well as a soundtrack from Dolly Parton!

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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Sep 15, 2015
• ISBN: 9780062421425

Julie Murphy

Julie Murphy lives in North Texas with her husband, who loves her, and her cats, who tolerate her. When Julie isn’t writing, she can be found watching movies so bad they're good, hunting for the perfect slice of cheese pizza, or planning her next great travel adventure. She is the author of the middle grade novels Dear Sweet Pea and Camp Sylvania as well as the young adult novels Ramona Blue, Side Effects May Vary, the Faith series, Pumpkin, Puddin’, and Dumplin’ (now a Netflix original film). You can visit Julie at imjuliemurphy.com.

Reviews for Dumplin'

[Jake · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed this!! The narration was amazing and the story was as well, although I wish the pageant wasn’t so rushed.

[Heather Prince · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was such a cute book! I loved the message in it and it certainly hit all of my emotions throughout the story. The characters are very relatable too. I definitely recommend this to everyone!

[Shattered Greenbean · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book was a fantastic read. Though there are little things that bothered me like the pace of the book, I still loved it! Definitely worth the money and the while! Willowdean is definitely one to root for, even though she can be a little rude at times! And I hope the movie can do at least half as great as the book!

[Geneviève Rouleau · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I was hoping for more from this book, but it was enjoyable and I'm looking forward to listening to more books from this author!

[d-fbuser-347727611 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Achei o livro um bom YA, com uma escrita boa também, apesar da personagem principal me irritar ás vezes pela insegurança dela. Mas ao finalizar a leitura percebi que esse aspecto é uma parte legal do livro também, afinal quem não é inseguro com o seu corpo e precisa aprender a trabalhar isso? Essa é mensagem do livro e é muito importante, para pessoas de todas as idades e o a minha parte preferida nele.

[Cassandra Dhanda · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I liked it. There times it was hard to like WillowDean but most of us are probably hard to like at that age, so I'll forgive her. the story had more depth than I anticipated, and the ending made me happy, even if I didn't fully agree with her choices. All in all a good read.

[britlitya · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Willowdean Dixon likes Dolly Parton and considers herself a "fat girl". She doesn't use the adjective in a negative way like most people, but that's normally how she introduces herself to people: "Hi, I'm Willowdean: resident Fat Girl." But she wants to shine. Not only shine, but feel good about herself and not always feel like a pariah because of her size. When a whirlwind romance shakes her whole world up, Willowdean feel lost. But in a fit of clarity she tries to achieve the unthinkable: win the Clover City Teen Pageant. With some inspiration from her now-gone Aunt and Dolly, Will tries to get over not only her own insecurities, but also embrace and love the ones around her despite their own flaws.I loved this book. Maybe I'm a bit biased because I was a fat girl growing up, but it's tough to embrace yourself for who you are. I was hoping that Will would have become friends with Mitch -- especially because he is a sweet soul -- but she needed to become her own person and correct the mistakes she made, even though it might have hurt some people in the process. I also liked the friendship that her and Ellen had throughout the story. These girls had their own self-image issues (even seemingly perfect girls like Ellen), and they learned that it is okay to drift apart a little, because that's all part about growing up.Thrilled this book was a Illinois' Read for a Lifetime book; will be recommending this to my students!

[Angel White · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Much better than I initially thought it would be. I'm not much into pageants and the like but I'm always for the underdog in those situations. Very easy and fun audiobook.

[howifeelaboutbooks · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Love love LOVE this book! I had heard a lot about it but had to wait to get my hands on a copy of it. I read it in less than a day! Murphy is an excellent writer, and I wanted to crawl inside her world and live there for a week or so. Willowdean’s mom was a beauty queen in Texas, and has fit into her pageant dress every year since. Willowdean, on the other hand, is fat and doesn’t try to hide it. After her aunt, who was more like a second mother, passes away, Willowdean tries to find the confidence she used to have in herself, instead of in others.

[grlintrrptdrdng · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Dumplin' is a cute story about Willowdean who is a fat girl with a former pageant queen mom. They just lost Will's aunt Luce who was a die hard Dolly Parton fan and let life pass her by because of her weight. Willowdean starts hooking up with her co-worker Bo and begins to feel self conscious when he touches her and ends the relationship. Her weight is more on her mind, her mom thinks Will can't be happy while she is at her current weight. To prove her wrong Willow joins the pageant her mom won as a teen, her life begins to spin out of control and she is doubting whether she was right before about her weight not standing in her way.

It's a good moral story, everyone has their doubts and self esteem issues. Will is kind of mean towards other people because she doesn't realize this, but really she's just reflecting her own issues on to people. We are constantly told that Will didn't have these problems until she started hooking up with her co-worker, but the story lacked some character development in the beginning. I felt the writing could of been better, but the story is cute and can be related to by everyone.

[kmartin802_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This fun contemporary novel tells the story of an unlikely beauty pageant entrant. Willowdean Dickson is fat and trying really hard to be okay with herself. Her mom won the pageant when she was a teen and has been the pageant manager for years. Willowdean and her mom are having some adjustment issues now that Willowdean's aunt and her mom's sister has died. Lucy was morbidly obese, housebound and died of a heart attack at age 36. Lucy was also the one who mostly raised Willowdean and fostered her love of Dolly Parton who was an inspiration to both of them. Willowdean is also having some friendship problems as she feels that she is growing away from her best friend El. The two have a fight when they both enter the beauty pageant and don't talk to each other for most of the book. These leaves Willowdean to make new friends with a few of the school misfits. Millie is also overweight but has always dreamed of being in the pageant. Amanda wears a brace on her leg to compensate for uneven leg lengths. Hannah has buck teeth and a bad attitude. All of those three have been tormented at school. But they bond over the pageant and a road trip to see drag queens impersonating Dolly.Willowdean also has boy issues. She works with Bo and starts a summer romance with him which involves lots of secret make-out sessions at the old elementary school. But, when she learns that he has been keeping secrets, she dumps him. She meets Mitch who wants to date her and is a really nice guy but there is no spark between them. When Bo comes back into her life, she's torn between the two boys.I liked the positive message of this book. I liked Willowdean's realization that everyone is teased about something and that no one has the perfect body. I liked the way she changed during the book but feel she still has a ways to go.

[Chelsea Huggins · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Loved the book, but I need a few more chapters at the end! ugh

[clear_tranquil · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I liked this book. The friendship between the characters was heart-warming and helped to offset the sometimes toxic atmosphere of high school. Dumplin' was an emotional and uplifting read about accepting who you are and discovering the inner strength you've had all along.

[dawn.zimmerer · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Unapologetic and honest, two word which describe both the book and its main character. I want to be her friend, hang out with her and maybe, just maybe some of her confidence will rub off. Can't wait to see what happens next...

[bexaplex · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Willowdean finds her self-confidence buckling when her best friend's relationship becomes more serious and the short order cook at the local burger joint expresses interest in her. It seems that her confidence has been built around a common strategy for teenagers: opting out instead of opting in. So she decides to opt in: to the town beauty pageant.This reads like a screenplay, with the Dolly Parton soundtrack and the ubiquitous drag show. And just to be clear, no beauty pageant movie is ever going to be as good as Drop Dead Gorgeous. But that doesn't mean there can't be other beauty pageant books/movies: they're all pretty entertaining.

[reader1009-863136 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

teen fiction/fat girl enters beauty pageant, meets cute boy and makes friends with lesbian, student with perceived disability, and drag queens while dealing with loss of favorite aunt in small southern town.

[sallyelizabethmurphy · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I made the mistake of watching the movie first- never a good idea. At first, I had a difficult time avoiding comparisons. However, as is typical, the book was much better than the movie.

[ssperson_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Love love love. Will's voice was so real.

[drfuriosa · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is a cute, body-positive, empowering story about loving yourself. There are also hijinks involving pageants, drag queens, and Dolly Parton references.

I was NOT sold on the Bo storyline or his like of Will. That part seemed clunky.

Also: how old is Rosie???? Will mentions her getting "the Flashes" and that Lucy was older. But Lucy died at 36. And that means I am *literally* older than Rosie, and NOT pari-menopausal. THANK YOU.

[carriewuj · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The subtitle here is "Go Big or Go Home." This is a great YA read because it presents the reality of high school. Most kids have a couple good friends, something about themselves that they hate or struggle with, and are just trying to make it through without making a fool of themselves. Willowdean Dickson is the narrator of this story set in Clover City TX and she is a plus-size girl, who until recently had been comfortable in her own skin. But her best "cheerleader," her Aunt Lucy died within the last year, due to health related issues of her own obesity, her best friend Ellen is buying into typical teen hype (sex, popularity), and she caught the eye of a cute boy Bo and can't believe he likes her as is. Will puts herself into a major funk over these issues and turns people away left and right. She has never been close to her own mother, who doesn't understand her weight and happens to run the Miss Teen Blue Bonnet beauty pageant every year. The title refers to her age-old nickname for Will, which she has just begun chafe against. Things come to a head when her mom starts to clean out Aunt Lucy's room and things to make space for all the pageant stuff. Will finds an old beauty pageant application that Lucy never filled out and begins to see all the things Lucy missed out on, not just because of her size, but because of her self doubt and insecurity about it. Along with a couple other misfit girls, Will signs up for the pageant and they navigate that insane world of superficiality with humor and self-confidence. Meanwhile, Bo makes his intentions clear and sincere, so Will has to overcome her own fears about getting involved. The climax is the pageant and it does not disappoint, although it does lack some detail. I love that Will changes on the inside, rather than the outside and achieves a self-acceptance that many adults lack. She comes to the conclusion : "Sometimes figuring out who you are means understanding that we are a mosaic of experiences."

[bookconcierge · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

3.5***From the book jacket: 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.My reactions:I grew up in Texas and am very familiar with the small-town beauty pageant hysteria. I hadn’t read the jacket blurb, nor seen the NetFlix (?) show, but the cover captured my attention. I really liked the story arc about Will’s efforts regarding the pageant and how she inspires other girls who don’t fit the standard “beauty-queen” stereotype to step up as well. I also really liked the exploration of the mother-daughter relationship, and the friendships … and all the hiccups that are bound to happen in any such relationships. I was somewhat less happy with the “romance” aspect, especially in the way Will treated Mitch. Still, I think Murphy did a good job of showing consequences of one’s actions. And I guess we were all once self-centered teenagers who bought into the romance hype of fiction and movies. Heck, I still buy into that HEA stuff … who doesn’t want a feel-good ending?!

[m_mozeleski · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a phenomenal book. I don't really know what I was expecting, but...it was amazing.
I loved the emotional arcs, the growth arcs, and augh. It really did blow me away.
I looooved it.
10/10 for a...not necessarily coming of age story but familial reconnection, friendship growing book. Just phenomenal.

[bookbrig-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Funny, well written, and sweet. I really appreciated reading about a fat girl where her size didn't change through the course of the story, and everything wasn't super easy or impossibly difficult. The characters felt real, and I wanted to keep reading to see what happened to them, so I'll definitely recommend this to our teens who love realistic stories. It really is wonderful to have a book I can recommend that talks about body image, self-esteem, first love, friendship, and family so authentically. Also, omg YA needs more fat protagonists like Willowdean. Really, it needs more fat protagonists in general, but Willowdean's voice is so clear and realistic it's fantastic.

All that said, I wish the story was a bit more fleshed out when it came to the actual pageant. All the build up had me wanting more detail, more time with the characters, just more in that moment. And the writing was excellent (I LOVED so many lines and snippets, just beautifully written), but the story didn't feel quite as memorable as I'd hoped. It's possible that this was because there was just SO much hype about this book that my expectations were unreasonably high. Also, I'm not really a realistic fic person, so that might be coloring my reaction as well. At any rate, it's a great book I'll be thrilled to recommend, it just wasn't my personal perfect cup of tea.

I received an advance copy provided by Edelweiss and Balzer and Bray.

[sjgirl-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Pure joy, I loved it every bit as much as the first time I read it. The red suckers, the Dolly Parton appreciation, the friendships, Mitch being a truly good guy even if he isn’t the right guy, the mother-daughter moments that so rarely go the way either intended, the small victories, just every bit of this, the dialogue, the emotions, the setting, all of it feels so real, so true, it’s almost like if you listened really closely, you could hear the characters’ heartbeats on every single page.

[linyarai · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed this book, I thought it was a great story of a young girl and her perspective growing up in pageant culture. I'm looking forward to the second book, and the movie.

[katlynng.bennett · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

MAGNIFICENT. Wonderfully paced, easy to read, Willowdean is a force you must follow. Because sometime days the damn dress just won’t zip up.

[beckyhaase · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

DUMPLIN’ by Judy MurphyThis book is not PC. A teenage girl is called Dumplin’ by her mother who constantly reminds her how fat she is and how pretty she would be if she just lost some weight. Dumplin’ and her friends decide to enter the beauty contest Dumplin’s mother runs and had won many years before. Hilarity runs rampant as the young women (one fat, one disabled, one perhaps autistic and one gay) prepare their talent acts and wardrobes. This could have been awful. It was not. It becomes a sensitive and empathetic tale of young women learning to love themselves and accept others. Oh, and there is also a gentle love story. This would be great book for a mother/parent book club.4 of 5 stars

[readingover50 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A sweet story about a teen trying to find empowerment and acceptance. I was a little annoyed that the moment she starts to like a boy, the formerly confident Willowdean starts to have body issues. Other than that, I enjoyed this book.

[lisa5127 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The story itself is a bit predictable, an overweight girl whose mom runs the town beauty pageant...but it was still a great ride to get there. It deals with so many issues young girls deal with growing up - relationships with their parents, friendships that seem to go bad, unexpected friendships, break-ups, and make-ups.

You will want Willowdean to be your friend!

[kemilyh1988 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

EXCELLENT! So good I read it in one day!