I am thoroughly impressed! Dumplin was exactly what I thought it was going to be, but in some ways it was so much more. Julie Murphy knows what she is doing, and I really hope she does it again.... and soon! 
 Willowdean meets Bo. Up until Bo, Willowdean was always confident, no matter that she isn't a tiny thing like her best friend, Ellen. But when Bo touches her, something happens, and all of her confidence feels like it has dried right up. When she learns that Bo will be going to her school in the fall, everything falls apart for Willowdean.. and she decides she has to do something to fix it. So she signs up for the Clover City pageant, the same pageant her not-so-understanding mom heads up. From that point on, things change for Willowdean. She becomes a leader of sorts to the other girls who feel unworthy, who follow her lead and join the pageant too. Throughout the pageant, with Bo and Mitch, she grows up and learns so much about herself. She went from a character that I adored, to a character I looked up to, even as a 33 year old woman. 
 If there is one thing that Julie Murphy knows, it is characters. There isn't a character in this book that I didn't want to see more of. None of them were thrown in just to have them there. They each had a purpose, and a personality, all their own. Willowdean, smart and sassy. Her best friend, Ellen. Bo and Mitch, the love interests. Millie, Amanda and Hannah... I loved them all. Even Willow's mom, who played such an important part. 
 One more thing that I want to mention... I loved the ending of this book. I love that the focus wasn't on the winner of the pageant. We never even learn who it was. The focus was on feeling good in your own skin, no matter your size or color. Be who you are, LOVE who you are, and if someone is worth their salt they will love you for the exact same reasons. Man, the feels! 
 There isn't a whole lot more that I can really say about this book. It isn't because it wasn't great, because it was, or that it wasn't full of things that I could talk about. It is because I can't really put into words the feelings that I felt while reading it. Go read Dumplin'. Not just the teens, either. Everyone read it, because whether 16 or 33 or 56, we all struggle with being comfortable and confident in our own skins. We all days or weeks or months or years where we just don't feel good enough. Julie Murphy has written a great reminder that we are awesome, all of us, no matter what!