The #1 New York Times bestseller and feel-good YA of the yearâabout Willowdean Dixon, the fearless, funny, and totally unforgettable heroine who takes on her small townâs beauty pageant.
Self-proclaimed fat girl Willowdean Dickson (dubbed âDumplinââ 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 Harpyâs, the local fast-food joint. There she meets Private School Bo, a hot former jock. Will isnât 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 pageantâalong with several other unlikely candidatesâto show the world that she deserves to be up there as much as any girl does.
Along the way, sheâll shock the hell out of Clover Cityâand maybe herself most of all.
Julie Murphy splits her time between North Texas and Kansas with her husband, who loves her, and her cats, who tolerate her. When Julie isnât 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, Puddinâ, and Dumplinâ (now a Netflix original film).