“Go Big Or Go Home”

Willowdean (Will) Dickson, or Dumplin by her former beauty queen mother, has always been confident in her plus sized body. That is until she meets Bo,who she instantly likes and is surprised to find that he likes her back. When she starts to feel insecure about how she looks,she, her best friend Ellen, and a few others sign up for the Miss Teen Blue Bonnet beauty pageant as a protest to show everyone that they deserve to be up there as much as everybody else. 

Dumplin is a young adult fiction book that has strong messages on female and self empowerment, being yourself and loving yourself. Will overcomes personal insecurities and challenges throughout the story and starts to see herself, others and the world differently. Will and Ellen have a strong friendship though highs and lows and are always there for each other. Rosie (her mother) and Will have a tense relationship since Will feels her mother doesn’t understand her and her mum just wants her to be happy and have lots of opportunities in her life. I think Dumplin was written well, it was funny, had good characters, and positive messages. You might also enjoy the movie Dumplin or the companion novel Puddin’.