Julie Murphy

Julie Murphy (born November 8, 1985 ) is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the books Side Effects May Vary, Dumplin' (2015), Murphy wrote her first novel, Side Effects May Vary, during National Novel Writing Month.

Career Murphy's literary debut was the young adult (YA) novel Side Effects May Vary which was published by Balzer + Bray on March 18, 2014. Murphy wrote the book as part of National Novel Writing Month around 2010 while working as a librarian in Texas. The novel became a New York Times bestseller. Dumplin was adapted into a Netflix movie of the same name in 2018.

In 2017, Murphy released her third YA novel titled Ramona Blue. Nivea Serrao, for Entertainment Weekly, commented that "First came Side Effects May Vary‘s Alice, then came Dumplin’s Willowdean, and now there’s the titular Ramona Blue. Julie Murphy has a knack for crafting memorable YA protagonists".

Her first middle grade novel, titled Dear Sweet Pea, was published in 2019. Nivea Serrao, for Entertainment Weekly, commented that "the best-selling author of Dumplin’ [...] and Ramona Blue has broken out in YA fiction with a message. And her books continue to resonate for so much more: their plucky characters, their irresistible sweetness, their delightful sense of humor. Now the author is returning with a new novel that carries her signature appeal, this time in the middle-grade space". In 2019, Disney Channel optioned the rights to Dear Sweet Pea, and it is on the Disney Channel Original Movie development slate.

In 2020, Murphy retold the origin story of the superhero Faith Herbert from Valiant Comics in the YA prose novel Faith: Taking Flight. Kayleigh Donaldson, for SyFy Wire, wrote that "the message being sent is clear: To the rest of the world, it is impossible to be both fat and happy. [...] That's what makes characters like Faith and writers like Murphy so desperately necessary. They're a potent rebuttal to decades of systemic fatphobia through the act of creative joy". Murphy is openly bisexual.