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Dumplin' by Julie Murphy


Throughout the course of the semester, each PLC group will read three YA novels. The first novel that my group is reading is titled Dumplin' by Julie Murphy. The novel revolves around the life of "self proclaimed fat girl" Willowdean, nicknamed Dumplin by her mother. Willowdean is comfortable in her skin until she falls for Bo, a private school boy who she works with. As her positive self image begins to crumble, she distances herself from Bo and from her best friend Ellen.

Willowdean's mother is known for running the local beauty pageant that captivates the town for half of the year. Although her mother never says she should enter the pageant, Willowdean decides to register in order to regain the self confidence she had before meeting Bo. The novel teaches adolescents to be happy in their own skin and that a good self image is important. 

As of right now, we are currently through the first third of the book or so. Throughout the novel, strong connections have formed between Willowdean's character and concepts from Chapter 5 of our Revel textbook. For example, although Willowdean is in the age range of Piaget's formal operational stage, she illustrates the concrete operational stage the day she registers for the pageant. While listening to her mom give a speech to the crowd of excited girls, Willowdean realizes that the pageant world is her mom's world. She is able to understand that her mom is not just her mom, but also a former pageant contestant and winner, and now the present day pageant manager. This connection is just one of many and I will be sure to document more as our readings progress. 
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Comments

  1. mbJanuary 31, 2018 at 7:14 AM

    Kayla, I appreciate the connections that you made with the text and the manner in which you describe your PLC group. It will be interestingt o explore the connections between self image, thoughts, and actions in the adolescent. I've posted a podcast that Professor W shared with me, your group might find it interesting: https://the1a.org/shows/2018-01-11/a-new-show-goes-inside-teenagers-brains (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

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  2. Bennet SageFebruary 4, 2018 at 8:58 AM

    Hi Kayla!
    Great post. Willowdean is a great character to highlight. Comparing her stage of development to the text book was a great connection. It allows for the reader to fully understand where Willowdean is at in her current life. Which can ultimately allow the reader to infer where the rest of the novel will go. It's amazing how real these books can feel sometimes. The parallel YA books have to the lives of other adolescents os remarkable. Enjoy the read!

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  3. Stephanie McConnellFebruary 7, 2018 at 7:08 PM

    Hi Kayla,

    It sounds like you’re reading a really interesting novel! You made some great connections to the Revel chapter. You must have a good grasp on Piaget’s stages of development. I’m happy to hear that the theme of your novel seems to be self-love. It’s refreshing to see focus put onto rewiring how adolescents view themselves. I hope that Willowdean will be able to formulate an opinion based on her own thoughts and feelings rather than those of others around her, as adolescents are programmed to do. As the book goes on, I’d be interested to see if Willowdean is able to accomplish her goal of regaining her confidence. I’ll have to add it to my reading list!

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