Many of us had a dreaded nickname in our childhoods. Whether it was bestowed upon you by a parent, sibling or obnoxious classmate, the nickname stuck with you wherever you went. For Willowdean Dickson, that nickname was given to her by her mother, Rosie: "Dumplin'."
In author Julie Murphy's "Dumplin'," Willowdean is a fat girl who has (mostly) felt at home in her own skin. Partly raised by her former beauty queen mother, she got most of her best memories and values from her fat aunt Lucy, who died of cancer a few months ago. Will loves Dolly Parton and thinks that having a "beach body" means putting a swimsuit on.
Will works at a fast-food joint called Harpy's, where she has a crush on Private School Bo, a former-jock hottie that always has a red candy sucker in his mouth. Willowdean is not surprised that she has a crush on Bo, but she's absolutely shocked when he seems to like her back.
Instead of becoming more confident, Will begins to doubt herself and her body. To get her confidence back, she does the one thing her Aunt Lucy secretly wanted (and never got) to do: join the Miss Teen Blue Bonnet beauty pageant. With the help of several other unlikely candidates and a brilliant group of drag queens, Willowdean is determined to show her small town in Texas you don't need to be skinny to be beautiful, and the most important thing, to quote Dolly, is to find out who you are and do it on purpose.
"Dumplin'," which is now a movie and available on Netflix, was a great read for me, a fat girl who has struggled with body image throughout most of my life. I saw myself in the multiple fat characters in Murphy's story, and particularly appreciated Millie, the seemingly-oblivious fat girl who joins the beauty pageant with Will. She is positive toward everyone, even when people do their best to grind her down. Her attitude uplifted and shook me. (I might have cried a little.)
All-in-all, I recommend this this book, especially to teen girls. The characters are three-dimensional, and they don't devolve into harmful stereotypes. Willowdean is flawed, but still likeable and inspiring. The story is sweet without being saccharine or naive, and is absolutely charming.
Make sure you listen to the queen of being yourself, Dolly Parton, when you read it. It'll make the book that much sweeter.
Megan Mehmert is the teen programming associate at Missouri River Regional Library.