For all the fat kids
Puddin’ Author: Julie Murphy Publisher: Balzer+Bray/ Harper Collins, young adult fiction
IF you loved Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy, you’re going to love Puddin’ as well. It’s not a sequel to the 2015 breakout hit for Murphy, but rather, a companion book.
Those who’ve read Dumplin’ might remember the cheerful, optimistic Millie Michalchuk, whom that book’s protagonist Willowdean Dickson describes as “the one I am ashamed to admit I’ve spent my whole life looking at and thinking, ‘Things could be worse’. I’m fat, but Millie’s the type of fat that requires elastic waist pants. She wears shirts with puppies and kittens and not in an ironic way”.
They will also probably remember mean girl Callie Reyes, co-assistant captain of successful dance team, the Shamrocks.
Puddin’ follows the story of these two girls after the Miss Teen Blue Bonnet Pageant, where Millie unexpectedly wins first runner-up. The win inspires her to start pursuing her dream of becoming a TV news anchor by applying for a place in a Broadcast Journalism Boot Camp at the University of Texas. However, this means that she is going to have to tell her mother that she is will not be returning to the Daisy Ranch weightloss summer camp she has been attending for the past eight years.
With diets and workouts having been their main bond throughout the years, Millie is afraid that her mother won’t understand her desire to do something different for herself.
At the same time, she is also dealing with the problem of Malik, the friend whom she likes as more than a friend. He acts one way online where they seem to be able to chat for hours about everything but barely speaks to her in person at school. Is it because he’s ashamed to like a fat girl, or because he’s just really shy?
Meanwhile, Callie seems to have the perfect life – pretty, popular, in a relationship with a hot football player, and next in line to captain the Shamrocks. She can also be pretty mean, not just to obvious targets like Millie, but also to her so-called friends – perhaps more accurately described as frenenemies.
The Shamrocks, who have a real shot at reaching the national-level dance competition, face a sudden setback when the gym that was sponsoring them withdraws its support.
This leads to a bad decision that causes Callie to not only be kicked out of the dance team, but also to reevaluate who she really is.
It also brings Millie and Callie together when Callie is forced to work at Millie’s uncle’s gym.
Will this forced cooperation blossom into friendship? Or will Callie maintain her mean girl attitude towards Millie?
The story is told alternatingly in each girl’s voice, so that we get to know each of them from their own view of themselves.
As with Dumplin’, Murphy continues with the body-positive messages through Millie’s story, especially as the teen realises that she can reach for her dreams exactly as she is now, and not at some point in the future when she has finally lost weight.
Murphy also doesn’t make excuses for the mean and angry side of Callie, but does do her the justice of making her a real person whom readers can understand.
The other girls from Dumplin’ – Willowdean, Ellen, Hannah and Amanda – also return in this book, and I particularly like the realistic way Murphy treated the group’s relationship after the pageant (Hint: Have you ever wondered if The Breakfast Club ever got together again after the credits rolled?).
Like Dumplin’, Puddin’ beautifully balances being self-confident with the realities of how the world tends to perceive fat people.
It also deals with the consequences of what happens when a person loses the things that they thought defined themselves.
A must-read for any kid or teen (or even adult) who thinks they are overweight, or feel they don’t fit in in any way.
Oh, and the title? A minor but cute tie between Millie and Callie.