Pumpkin

 

Pumpkin (Book 3 of 3)  by Julie Murphy  YA

(from Amazon)  Waylon Russell Brewer is a fat, openly gay boy stuck in the small West Texas town of Clover City. His plan is to bide his time until he can graduate, move to Austin with his twin sister, Clementine, and finally go Full Waylon so that he can live his Julie-the-hills-are-alive-with-the-sound-of-music-Andrews truth.  So when Clementine deviates from their master plan right after Waylon gets dumped, he throws caution to the wind and creates an audition tape for his favorite TV drag show, Fiercest of Them All. What he doesn’t count on is the tape getting accidentally shared with the entire school. . . . As a result, Waylon is nominated for prom queen as a joke. Clem’s girlfriend, Hannah Perez, also receives a joke nomination for prom king.  Waylon and Hannah decide there’s only one thing to do: run—and leave high school with a bang. A very glittery bang. Along the way, Waylon discovers that there is a lot more to running for prom court than campaign posters and plastic crowns, especially when he has to spend so much time with the very cute and infuriating prom king nominee Tucker Watson.  Waylon will need to learn that the best plan for tomorrow is living for today . . . especially with the help of some fellow queens. . . .

(My Review)

This is such a fun read!  I loved this whole series!!!  You can read as a series, or alone - I really don't think reading this book without reading the others will take away from the understanding of the book or enjoyment.   Reading the whole series will just help fill in context.  Julie Murphy writes such rich characters that just jump right off of the page, and right into your heart.  I love the friendships, and how they interact to deal with problems that arise in the book.  I love that Murphy begins each book with a Dolly Parton quote.  And did I mention there are drag queens??  

The first book, Dumplin' (which is also a great book) was made into a Netflix movie.  Below is a list of the series in order.

1.  Dumplin'

2.  Puddin'

3.  Pumpkin