Dumplin' & Puddin' by Julie Murphy

One weekend, I watched this movie Dumplin' that I ended up watching 3 times throughout that weekend. I looked up the movie script writer and found it was based on this book by Julie Murphy. It immediately became a favorite movie, identifying with the fat girl who seems to reside in my inner thoughts. I was hooked on the story line and wanted to read the book, then I found out there was a companion story, Puddin'. I knew I would have to save these books till break, assuming that I would read them continually till them were finished. Pretty much true.

Dumplin' follows a bit of a female lead's life in high school. It is a story about learning about self and accepting body type and realizing other people do as well. There were quite a bit of differences from the book to the movie, but it's expected. One big difference is the character of Amanda who is not in the movie. Perhaps it would have taken away from the plot of the movie, but overall a great read that I finished in one day. This book is a young adult novel, and covers themes that I wasn't allowed to read in high school, but it's a different world. I would recommend this, but would have a hard time recommending it to youth group girls due to the amount of language and sex themes.

Puddin' follows Millie and Callie through a season of life, and how their life intersects. I would not call this a sequel as it doesn't follow the main character's story from Dumplin' but includes the same characters and looks at a different point of view. This story highlights friendship and how to build friendships, including unlikely ones. Less language and sexual conversations. I'm not sure if they will make this one into a movie, but will not be surprised if they do. Julie Murphy has a few more books that I may find to read, but probably not till summer based on my experience with these.