Julie Murphy

wrote Dumplin', which I really enjoyed even though David Levithan wouldn't have, because it has a person of size in and she doesn't hate herself.  Ramona Blue was just as great as Dumplin', but it was different.
This book takes place in Eulogy, Mississippi.  Ramona talks about how the devastation of New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina overshadows the devastation along with the Mississippi coast.  I need to find out more about that.
Anyway, I like reading small towny and rural setting books because I know so little about these places "in real life."
I also loved the way in which Murphy addresses the fluid nature of sexuality. Or maybe Ramona is truly one of those people who loves hearts not parts?  Either way, just more testimony that the world is not black and white but shades.  Great book.