Book 3 of the Dumplin’ Series
Waylon Russell Brewer is 18 years old and he’s a high school student who is openly gay in a little town in Texas. He counts the days until graduation so he can go to the University of Austin with his best friend and twin sister Clementine.
When Waylon’s favourite drag queen loses the TV show, a reality drag competition, he does his first drag transformation as Miss Pumpkin Patch and records an audition tape for the next season of the drag competition. Clem, who is super proud of her twin, shows the video to Waylon’s arch nemesis Kyle Meeks, his friend Alex Wu’s boyfriend, who in turn accidentally shares the video with the entire school.
As a response to the video, the kids in school nominate Waylon for Prom Queen, and Clem’s girlfriend Hannah Perez (remember her from book 1 Dumplin’ and 2 Puddin’?) is nominated for Prom King. Because Hannah decides to go through with it, Waylon decides to move forward as well. He’s teamed up with Tucker Watson, who is nominated for Prom King for the high school’s formal campaign and mandatory court activities.
I really enjoyed this book. Waylon is a funny guy who is discovering his talents as a drag queen and he’s good at it. People respond positively, apart from the school bullies. The relationship between Tuck and Waylon is strenuous to begin with, but you can sense they like each other.
Read for The 52 Book Club Reading Challenge 2026
Prompt 15: Subtitle with a comma
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
