A new feature was added to Wednesdays. This feature is required silent readings every Wednesday during SRT. This means that people are looking for good books to read.

A great book that I recently read is the novel Dumplin by Julie Murphy. This book follows the story of a young Willowdean Dickinson, who is the daughter of a pageant queen. Her mother is absolutely obsessed with this pageant as it brings her back to the peak of her life: high school.

The novel navigates the fat girls, which is how Willowdean sees herself, struggle with her mother’s expectations, and the negative thoughts she has about herself. Willowdean feels isolated due to these expectations from her mother and the loss of her aunt six months earlier.

I found myself empathizing with many of the characters as they are considered the outcasts. I empathize with Willowdean mainly as I have constantly struggled with my weight and self image. I enjoy how this novel does not use weight loss as a plot, since many novels about overweight protagonists include this as a plot device. Anyone who has a negative self image is negative or has struggled with a negative self image will connect to this book, as it will help them feel better and more confident of themselves.
I give this book a five out of five, as I love the way it portrays the struggle of self image.