Loved this book!

I just finished Dumplin' by Julie Murphy.  It was excellent.  I flew through this book because I was so absorbed in what was happening with Willowdean, the main character.

Willowdean is a "self-proclaimed fat girl."  Her mom calls her Dumplin', which Willowdean doesn't always appreciate.  Willow is pretty confident in her own skin until she meets Bo, a very good-looking coworker at Harpy's fast food restaurant.  As her relationship with Bo escalates, her self-assurance declines.  She decides to enter the local beauty pageant to try to get some self confidence back.  She figures that by showing the world she deserves to be in the pageant, that she will feel more deserving of a happy life.

The book is very realistic and really gets into the thoughts of Willowdean.  I found myself really identifying with her and hoping that she would gain back her confidence.

As I Googled Julie Murphy to find more books, I found out that she wrote her first novel, Side Effects May Vary during NaNoWriMo.  How cool is that?  :)

Definitely a 5 STAR book!