Through her job at the newspaper, she discovers a passion she didn't realize she had - for writing and for life.
Getting caught up in the mystery of the case against the mayor, who seems to be doing something illicit, Sam assists the actual reporters and does some amateur detective work. Sam has quite the work ethic, though that is in part due to her desire to avoid thinking about other things, like her problems with her best friend, boys, and college. In fact, she's much happier working late nights and crazy hours at the newspaper than dealing with other teens in high school. She doesn't get to do much but write obits and fetch coffee, but the excitement of the newsroom delights her. At 16 going on 17, she's got a summer job as a paid intern at the Herald Tribune. The best part, and what makes Famous Last Words stand out from the bulk of YA offerings is that t he main plot deals with Sam's job. Famous Last Words is an improvement on How My Summer Went Up in Flames, with a slightly more likable heroine and the delightful focus on Sam's summer job. Both novels exhibit a lot of promise, but left me vaguely irritated and unsettled at some of the themes and messages throughout. In a lot of ways, her sophomore novel is much like her first, with similar strengths and weaknesses. This is my second experience with Jennifer Salvato Doktorski in as many months. “Writing about the dead this summer has taught me how to live." There is a little mystery involved as well as an adorable little romance and there are valuable little life lessons deserving to be quoted. “Stuck-up? Where’d you get that? I’m shy.” “Did you even think maybe he was flirting with and you blew him off? You can be sort of.stuck-up sometimes.” Sam is very realistic with annoying traits in fact but which make her quite more tangible and real.
I also enjoyed the effortless humor of the narrative in the POV of the main character herself.
“It’s sad to think that for some people, an obit is the only time they’ll be in print, and they’re not even around to enjoy it.” It sounds morbid but somehow she makes it sound inspiring and challenging. I find it quite original that Sam is interning at their local paper, Herald Tribune, as an Obituary writer. She doesn't fall into a particular high school group and is more than happy to leave the whole high school thing behind. Just your average teen who couldn't rely on her superhuman good looks nor excessive popularity.
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