Publishers Weekly
★ 06/01/2015
About the only thing Clover City has going for it is its beauty pageant, the oldest in Texas. It’s run by Willowdean Dickson’s mother—a former winner—who has a hard time with the reality that Willowdean, a self-described “fat girl,” will never be a beauty queen. Willowdean is okay with her size, mostly, but with 10th grade ending and her best friend considering having sex with her boyfriend, Willowdean feels like she is being left on the wrong side of the experience divide. An unexpected kiss with Bo, her handsome fast-food restaurant coworker, is thrilling, but she’s also horrified at the idea of him touching her anywhere there is extra flesh. And that very reaction horrifies her, too; she thought she was at peace with herself. Murphy (Side Effects May Vary) successfully makes every piece of the story—Dolly Parton superfans, first love, best-friend problems, an unlikely group of pageant entrants, female solidarity, self-acceptance, and Willowdean’s complicated relationship with the mother who nicknamed her “Dumplin’ ”—count, weaving them together to create a harmonious, humorous, and thought-provoking whole. Ages 13–up. Agent: Molly Jaffa, Folio Literary Management. (Sept.)
From the Publisher
Will’s singular voice compels readers to think about all that goes into building-and destroying-self-esteem...Splendid” — Booklist (starred review)
“I’m obsessed with this book. Wickedly funny, heartbreakingly real, full of characters to love and cheer for. DUMPLIN’ is such a star.” — Katie Cotugno, author of How to Love and 99 Days
“DUMPLIN’ should be required reading for anyone who has ever felt even slightly uncomfortable in his or her skin. Julie Murphy’s star continues to shine with this groundbreaking, poignant story that will surely change lives.” — John Corey Whaley, award-winning author of Noggin and Where Things Come Back
“Murphy…successfully makes every piece of the story…count, weaving them together to create a harmonious, humorous, and thought-provoking whole.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“[A] richly enjoyable novel...a clever and funny book to please lovers of thoughtful romance and secret pageant fans.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
“Genuine, romantic, and with a dash of Texan charm, this is a novel that celebrates being who you are while also acknowledging that it’s incredibly difficult to do.” — The Horn Book
“Portrays and challenges sterotypes about beauty pageants, size issues, and women’s concerns...Powerful.” — Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA)
Praise for SIDE EFFECTS MAY VARY: “Honest and unflinching, this is a compelling story of one teen’s struggle with cancer, love, and living. A worthwhile addition.” — School Library Journal
Praise for SIDE EFFECTS MAY VARY: “Readers will turn the last page wanting to know where the next chapter leads.” — Kirkus Reviews
Praise for SIDE EFFECTS MAY VARY: “Alice and Harvey’s relationship is raw, honest, moving, and unapologetic in its depiction of their individual, and collective, pain.” — Booklist
Praise for SIDE EFFECTS MAY VARY: “Julie Murphy weaves together a tender and funny tale of love, friendship, heartache, and redemption. SIDE EFFECTS MAY VARY explodes with brutal honesty, brilliant wit, and unflinching heart.” — John Corey Whaley, winner of the Michael L. Printz Award for WHERE THINGS COME BACK
Praise for SIDE EFFECTS MAY VARY: “Julie Murphy’s SIDE EFFECTS MAY VARY is a funny, heartfelt, honest look at the beauty and the risk of getting a second chance. An inspiring novel about all the things worth living for. I adored this debut!” — Siobhan Vivian, author of The List
Praise for SIDE EFFECTS MAY VARY: “A funny and touching novel about a strong-willed heroine who finds facing death simple, but facing life heart-wrenchingly complicated. A real original.” — Jennifer Echols, author of GOING TOO FAR
Praise for SIDE EFFECTS MAY VARY: “A tale of unlikely romance, impossible obstacles, and mortality, this book is a must-read.”- — Teen Vogue
Praise for SIDE EFFECTS MAY VARY: “It’s equal parts fun, cringe-worthy, and totally fearless!” — Seventeen Magazine
Praise for SIDE EFFECTS MAY VARY: “An unexpected twist on the typical cancer story.” — Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA)
Booklist
Praise for SIDE EFFECTS MAY VARY: “Alice and Harvey’s relationship is raw, honest, moving, and unapologetic in its depiction of their individual, and collective, pain.
Booklist (starred review)
Will’s singular voice compels readers to think about all that goes into building-and destroying-self-esteem...Splendid
John Corey Whaley
DUMPLIN’ should be required reading for anyone who has ever felt even slightly uncomfortable in his or her skin. Julie Murphy’s star continues to shine with this groundbreaking, poignant story that will surely change lives.
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
[A] richly enjoyable novel...a clever and funny book to please lovers of thoughtful romance and secret pageant fans.
Katie Cotugno
I’m obsessed with this book. Wickedly funny, heartbreakingly real, full of characters to love and cheer for. DUMPLIN’ is such a star.
Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA)
Portrays and challenges sterotypes about beauty pageants, size issues, and women’s concerns...Powerful.
The Horn Book
Genuine, romantic, and with a dash of Texan charm, this is a novel that celebrates being who you are while also acknowledging that it’s incredibly difficult to do.
Booklist
Praise for SIDE EFFECTS MAY VARY: “Alice and Harvey’s relationship is raw, honest, moving, and unapologetic in its depiction of their individual, and collective, pain.
Siobhan Vivian
Praise for SIDE EFFECTS MAY VARY: “Julie Murphy’s SIDE EFFECTS MAY VARY is a funny, heartfelt, honest look at the beauty and the risk of getting a second chance. An inspiring novel about all the things worth living for. I adored this debut!
Teen Vogue
Praise for SIDE EFFECTS MAY VARY: “A tale of unlikely romance, impossible obstacles, and mortality, this book is a must-read.”-
Jennifer Echols
Praise for SIDE EFFECTS MAY VARY: “A funny and touching novel about a strong-willed heroine who finds facing death simple, but facing life heart-wrenchingly complicated. A real original.
Seventeen Magazine
Praise for SIDE EFFECTS MAY VARY: “It’s equal parts fun, cringe-worthy, and totally fearless!
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
[A] richly enjoyable novel...a clever and funny book to please lovers of thoughtful romance and secret pageant fans.
Seventeen Magazine
Praise for SIDE EFFECTS MAY VARY: “It’s equal parts fun, cringe-worthy, and totally fearless!
DECEMBER 2015 - AudioFile
Willowdean (Dumplin’) is a fat girl who’s content in her own skin. Narrator Eileen Stevens provides an appealing look into the workings of Will’s mind. Will describes herself as a “cashier, Dolly Parton enthusiast, and resident fat girl.” Her attitude is upbeat and positive, but she’s not saccharine sweet. Stevens gives her appropriate teenaged snarkiness, and each deep sigh speaks volumes. When a big disappointment causes Will to lose her focus, she becomes anxious and insecure. Her mother coordinates the annual Blue Bonnet Beauty Pageant, and, surprisingly, Will decides to enter—without losing weight. Soon more “outsider” teens enter as well. Stevens depicts body image issues, first romance, drag queens, and rebellious beauty queens. Listeners won’t want to miss meeting this funny, original heroine. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2015-05-12
In a small Texas town, a confident fat girl confronts new challenges to her self-esteem. At age 16, Willowdean—her mother calls her Dumplin'—has a good sense of herself. She's uninterested in Mom's raison d'être, the Clover City Miss Teen Blue Bonnet Pageant, which annually takes over the town and Will's own house. Mom won once and now runs the pageant, dieting to fit her old dress and pressuring Will to diet too. Will doesn't. She mourns her beloved aunt Lucy, a second parent to her who died six months ago, and simmers with pleasure over a new, hot, sort-of-boyfriend. However, his touch makes Will panic with newfound insecurity. She loses him, loses her old best friend, gains new social-outsider buddies (a familiar trope)—and finds triumph somewhere amid Dolly Parton, drag queens, breaking pageant rules, and repairing relationships. The text refreshingly asserts that thinness is no requirement for doing and deserving good things, that weight loss isn't a cure-all, and that dieting doesn't work anyway. The plot arc, amazingly, avoids the all-too-common pitfall of having its fat protagonist lose weight. Unfortunately, Murphy loses her step and undermines her main point in the mournful, cringeworthy details of Lucy's death and life, which are blamed on extreme fatness rather than unfairness. In the end, it's more liberating than oppressive, with bits of humor and a jubilant pageant takeover by beauty rebels to crown this unusual book about a fat character. (Fiction. 13-16)
