We take a second helping from Julie Murphy – Puddin’
Puddin’ – the blurb
Millie Michalchuk has gone to fat camp every year since she was a little girl. Not this year. This year she has new plans to chase her secret dream of being a newscaster—and to kiss the boy she’s crushing on.
Callie Reyes is the pretty girl who is next in line for dance team captain and has the popular boyfriend. But when it comes to other girls, she’s more frenemy than friend.
When circumstances bring the girls together over the course of a semester, they surprise everyone (especially themselves) by realizing that they might have more in common than they ever imagined.
Where’s my Dumplin’?
I read Dumplin‘ by Julie Murphy towards the end of last year and loved the YA message of positivity and body confidence. Murphy writes at the back of this book that if Dumplin’ was about coming to terms with your own body then Puddin’ is about demanding the World do the same and I totally agree. It’s kind of a follow on but not totally as perspectives change from Willowdean to Millie who took part in the previous years Pageant. It was slightly weird seeing Willowdean through the eyes of someone else and I missed her initially but she is there in the background and you do get used to it.
You B!TC#
Dolly Parton is still present, as is all things Texas, (something I loved in Dumplin’) but instead of pageants this time round we are dealing with dance squads and fat camps. Or perhaps journalism camp depending on how brave Millie is. I particularly loved the story being told from Callie and Millie’s perspectives. Callie was actually probably my favorite character and I loved how Murphy didn’t sugar coat her. Sometimes girls can be bitches, especially to one another. Yet I particularly enjoyed how Murphy wrote her, she didn’t totally transform Callie in a ‘put Cinderella in a pretty dress and she is a princess’ kind of way. The old Callie still was present at the end of the book but she had learned, grown and improved. Far more realistic.
F A T
What I loved (sorry I’m saying that a lot) was how Murphy writes about her characters who are fat. She encourages the use of the word – it’s a thing not a feeling and isn’t necessarily something to be ashamed of. You really feel for Millie when faced with her mums endless stream of calorie counting, low fat lasagnes and slim fast bars. How Millie grew up so well-adjusted after having the message YOU ARE NOT GOOD ENOUGH AS YOU ARE shoved down her throat daily is beyond me. Teenage girls agonising over their looks should take a large dose of both books as they ooze positivity, being brave and accepting yourself, warts and all.
Encore une fois?
I’m not sure if Murphy is able to take the girls any further (sniff, sniff). Perhaps with Amanda who we have possibly seen the least? I would love to meet them again one day but equally it does feel very settled with how Murphy left it. I wish them all the happiness in life, may they never be without red lipstick.
