60 pages • 2 hours read
Julie MurphyDumplin
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2015A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 36-38Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapters 36-38 Summary
Willowdean is watching television on a Friday night when her mother sits down next to her and mutes the TV, telling Will that she wants to talk. Without Lucy’s disability checks or insurance, there’s no money to get Willowdean’s car fixed.
In the bathroom at the Sadie Hawkins dance, Callie tells Willowdean that asking Ellen to not participate in the pageant was a lousy thing to do. Willowdean tells Callie to mind her own business, and Callie tells Will that Ellen is better off without Willowdean as a friend. Callie also tells Will that if she tried harder to take care of herself, it would make a difference.
Willowdean rejoins Mitch at the dance, and they dance with Millie and Malik, who came to the dance with a dateless Amanda. Will slow dances with Mitch until they are approached by Patrick Thomas, who comments about Will and her friends’ participation in the Miss Teen Blue Bonnet Pageant: “You better make sure they know it’s a beauty contest and not a livestock show” (202). Will reminds Mitch that his friend is a jerk, and Mitch agrees. Will then catches Bo’s eye. Bo is slow dancing with Bekah across the gym auditorium. Neither Will nor Bo look away.
When receiving a spam email message from Lucy’s email address, Will opens Lucy’s email after guessing Lucy’s password (the title of a Dolly Parton song). She reads an email announcing a Dolly Parton night at a drag bar and asks Millie, Amanda, and Hannah to go with her so that they can get pointers for the pageant. However, she doesn’t tell them that the bar is a drag bar or that most of those in attendance are gay men.
At first, the bouncer at the bar doesn’t let the girls in because they aren’t 18. When Will shows the bouncer the email she printed out from Lucy’s inbox, he notices that the email was sent to Lucy. He lets the girls in because “Lucy was good people” (209). Inside, Will is in awe of the performers, and she feels free being able to sing Dolly Parton songs at the top of her lungs. When the girls start to leave, Dale, the bouncer, calls Will back to meet Lee Wei, Will’s favorite performer from the show.
Dale introduces Willowdean as Lucy’s niece, and Lee says: “Lucy was a real gem. She had a kind, open heart. We were so sad to see her go” (213).
Chapters 36-38 Analysis
When Mrs. Dixon tells Will that they need to talk, Will assumes her mom is going to tell her that she is an embarrassment or talk about the pageant. Instead, she talks about money. When Mrs. Dixon tells Will that they need to cut back on expenses, Will realizes that despite their differences, her mother always took care of her basic needs. Will feels guilty for not realizing and appreciating that before: “If I were a better daughter, I would tell her it’s fine and that I would understand. I may not be the daughter she expected, but she never lets me go without” (196).
Willowdean goes to the Sadie Hawkins Dance with Mitch. When she sees Callie and Ellen at the dance, she feels the need to get out of the auditorium, so she goes to the bathroom. Unfortunately, she runs into Callie in the restroom. Despite her usual self-confidence (except around Bo), Will is hurt when Callie tells her that she should try harder with her appearance. Will fears that Will’s mother and Callie may be right, that life may only be about how much she weighs. Thinking this, Will’s eyes brim with tears.
When Willowdean convinces Millie, Amanda, and Hannah to unwittingly go to the drag show with her in Chapter 38, Will, and the reader learn, more about each of the girls. Millie is shocked that the performers are men. Hannah seems happy to have one upped Mille and Amanda by figuring it out before them. Amanda thinks the show is better than reality television.
It’s important to Willowdean that the girls “watch as drag queens of every shape and size and color give it their all and leave everything they’ve got on that stage” (211). By being able to relate to the performer’s nontraditional appearances, Will and her friends are inspired. Most important, attending Dolly Parton night and meeting Lucy’s friends makes Willowdean feel the closest to Aunt Lucy than any other time in the novel. When Amanda tells Willowdean that Will has lipstick on her head (from Lee’s kiss), Will doesn’t want to wash it off: “I want to leave it there forever as a blessing. The last permission I need to be my own role model” (215).
