The Texan ones

There was a movie sitting on my watch list for a while now. It wasn't a rom-com that I could persuade the husband to watch it with me and while the trailer didn't seem PG rated, the 13+ scared me enough to not watch it with the girls. But I finally got around to watching Dumplin' with Jennifer Aniston and it was delightful fare. Of course, the minute I realized there was a book on which the movie was based, I got started on it.

Dumplin' and its sequel Puddin' is all about friendships and the size not-zero. I could call it a fat girl book but that is only a tiny part of the books' lure. Sure, body size is important to any teenage girls' life but neither Willowdean nor Melissa care about their size anymore. What they do care about is how to reach beyond and how to make their mothers do the same. This really spoke to me because the only thing I want to pass down to both my daughters is an unashamed owning up to their body and body size. Sure, I want them to be healthy and active but more than that, I want them to love their shapes as it is. Because I love their shapes so much: I made both of them, birthed them between my 'thunder thighs', carried them in my round tummy and rocked them in my chubby arms but they love my body (right now anyway!) and I love theirs.

The books also delve a lot deeper (than the movie) into the complexity that is female friendships - the envy, the hate, the pride, the resolve and the enduring nature of this love. I have made some wonderful friends and I have lost a few but they all make my life richer and happier and I don't regret a single one.

All in all, two wonderful reads that will bring a tear to your eye while making you smile ear to ear.