This review originally published at The Children's Book and Media Review

Samantha D’angelo thinks about death quite a lot, but it’s mostly because her summer job is writing obituaries at her local newspaper. Life at the newspaper keeps her busy. Although her best friend wants Sam to be spending her time going to parties and beaches, Sam discovers that she prefers to spend time with the people at the paper, especially another intern, AJ, and Michael, whose story on the mayor stirs her curiosity. Sam learns to do some investigative research on her own to learn about what the mayor is hiding while she’s dealing with how she feels about some of the boys at the paper and learning why obituary writing is more important than she originally thought. By spending her time writing obituaries, Sam learns what it means to live.

Unlike a lot of other YA novels, this romantic comedy book focuses mainly on Sam’s job. While there is some time spent with friends and going to parties or her interaction with her family, the majority of Sam’s life readers learn about is working at the paper. She still does deal with some teenage problems, like how to balance her job with spending time with her best friend, her parents not wanting her to work so much, and how to react to boys. There is some mention of underage drinking, but the main character doesn’t like to drink and this fact is repeatedly mentioned. The book isn’t particularly deep, but it’s light, fun nature will please many readers. ( )

Jennifer Salvato Doktorski's young adult novel Famous Last Words is one of those novels that makes you suddenly laugh aloud in a quiet room and leaves you with a warm, satisfied feeling upon finishing.

The novel follows 16-year old Sam, a summer intern at a local newspaper, the Herald Tribune. Among her other "intern scum" duties, Sam shares obituary duty with fellow intern AJ, a sarcastic college intern. The newspaper office is filled with quirky characters, from Harry, her armadillo-loving boss, to Tony, known as Coma Boy to the rest of the newspaper staff and summer crush to Sam. This summer is the beginning of something different for Sam... There's no lazing around the pool with her best friend Shelby, who just doesn't seem to understand why Sam works so much and has no interest in their usual summer activities. And Sam, usually reserved and shy, is finding her niche and her previously small social circle is expanding. This summer, she's breaking rules, keeping secrets, and learning, little by little, that a summer of writing obituaries might just teach her how to live.

I easily identified with the main character of Famous Last Words, Sam. She's a hard worker, rarely gets into trouble, is protective of her much wilder and social best friend, Shelby, and is generally shy and awkward in the situations Shelby thrives in. When Sam finds something that both challenges and suits her - writing for the Herald Tribune - she flourishes. I cringed when Sam embarrassed herself, got herself reprimanded, or something so obvious to the reader went right over her head (especially in the romance department!), but that also means I couldn't help but cheer for her when she was congratulated, loved, and finally, finally realized that everything she needed (romantically and otherwise) was right there for her to grab on to.

I highly recommend this sophomore offering from Jennifer Salvato Doktorski. I'm kicking myself for overlooking her first novel, How My Summer Went Up in Flames, which I will definitely be reading. Laugh-out-loud funny, briskly paced, and filled with memorable and quirky characters, Famous Last Words is fantastic pleasure read. ( )

Among all of the zombified dystopian Hunger Games wanna-be's out there, it's great to see that someone can still write such a good contemporary teen novel. At seventeen, Sam D'Angelo's dream of working at a newspaper for the summer has come true in the guise of an internship writing obituaries. The Herald Tribune is a dying breed, still printed on the premises, and by the end of the summer, looking for ways to be relevant online. Sam's contributions to the featured obit work her writing chops when instead of choosing the most interesting, the pick the first one in every day. Sam discovers those regular people have stories too. There is the usual romantic interplay involving two boys, a best friend who isn't always there and a sidebar story about local government to round out the story, but all in all, a good read. ( )

I really enjoyed Jennifer Salvato Doktorski’s young adult contemporary debut How My Summer Went Up In Flames back in May, so when I learned she already had a second book coming out I jumped right in and snatched it up. And I am so glad I did because, frankly, it’s a fantastic summer read!

Doktorski’s writing feels more comfortable and relaxed this time around. Maybe it was the newspaper setting (which she is apparently very familiar with) or the characters she seemed to be infusing with tidbits of friends and family, but the story was light and effortless. I felt like I was a part of that newsroom atmosphere, with its mix of teamwork, love for the news, and fear of moving from traditional print to a digital future.

The obituary section staffed by Sam and AJ turned out to be a great jumping off point for the story. It provided food for thought, as well as plenty of humor. There were several moments that made me stop and think about life and death right along with Sam, even as I was entertained by the story. Never in a depressing way (although an explosion/fire story at the beginning provided a little wake-up call), but more like “life is short, eat dessert first.” Am I doing what I want with my life? Should I have taken a different road? Is there something I want to try or accomplish before I die? It seems so heavy when put into words like this, but in my head it’s fun to think about those “what if” questions and amous Last Words had me doing just that. On the fun side of things, I got an absolute kick out of the anticipatory obits that Sam typed up about herself and everyone around her (the one for her friend Shelby is a standout). Scattered throughout the narrative they provided that extra touch that was icing on the cake.

In contrast to How My Life Went Up In Flames (where protagonist Rosie went on a road trip and was away from home for most of the story), Famous Last Words takes the opportunity to explore family and work relationships. Sam has a nice family with two parents (she actually likes!) who are interested in her life, and a loving relationship with her Gram who lives with them. I love coming across a family that isn’t dysfunctional or that hasn’t lost a parent in some manner, because they feel rarer and rarer these days. Throw in a grandparent who is feisty, up on current events, and has shouted conversations with her dead husband at his grave site (a great scene BTW), and I’m in heaven. Sam’s workplace relationships are just as positive – the supportive beat reporters happy to have Sam learn the ropes from them, the growling editor-in-chief with the heart of a teddy bear, and even the apoplectic copy editor who has meltdowns over horrible spelling (which I COMPLETELY understand); all of them added so much character to the narrative.

Then, of course, there is Sam and fellow intern AJ propelling the story along with their adorable chemistry and Sam’s cluelessness. Yes, I’m afraid she does get a little distracted by the pretty-boy face of Tony the features intern and isn’t seeing what is right in front of her. But she’s a smart girl, so she’ll figure it out – maybe. Sam grows quite a bit as the story progresses and she starts contemplating a future in journalism. Between writing feature obituaries and an off-the-books “investigation” into the mayor’s possible shady dealings, Sam opens herself up to life, politics, and love. Quietly supporting her in her endeavors is the slightly older – and cooler – AJ, who assists with the obituaries, writes music reviews, and is a drummer in local band Love Gas (there’s a name for you!). He’s also crushing on Sam, who is blind as a bat about his affections even as she keeps talking herself out of feeling anything but friendship for him. Definitely a cute couple in the making.

For a breezy read that has plenty of character in its characters, positive family relationships, a cute romance, and a protagonist who learns about life while reporting on death, grab a copy of Jennifer Salvato Doktorski’s Famous Last Words. Who knew obituaries could be this much fun? ( )

This is my second experience with Jennifer Salvato Doktorski in as many months. In a lot of ways, her sophomore novel is much like her first, with similar strengths and weaknesses. Both novels exhibit a lot of promise, but left me vaguely irritated and unsettled at some of the themes and messages throughout. 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.

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. At 16 going on 17, she's got a summer job as a paid intern at the Herald Tribune. She doesn't get to do much but write obits and fetch coffee, but the excitement of the newsroom delights her. In fact, she's much happier working late nights and crazy hours at the newspaper than dealing with other teens in high school.

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. 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. Through her job at the newspaper, she discovers a passion she didn't realize she had - for writing and for life. Writing obits makes her realize how important it is to truly live. I love that the newspaper work isn't something in the background here at all; it's in the forefront and Doktorski really delves into the process and the problems facing the newspaper industry today.

As with How My Summer Went Up in Flames, I'm also largely impressed with Doktorski's characterization and writing. Most of the characters feel very authentic and human, with the little quirks that really make them feel alive. My personal favorite is definitely Sam's sassy grandma and her touching stories about Sam's late grandfather.

However, Sam has a lot of the troublesome qualities that made Rosie such a frustrating heroine in How My Summer Went Up in Flames, though I do not think Sam's quite as hateful. Both Sam and Rosie are judgmental, jealous of any girl who talks to a boy they have any sort of interest in, and terrible friends. One of the main focuses of the book is the deteriorating friendship between Sam and Shelby. Sam has a lot of legitimate reasons to be mad at Shelby: the way Shelby wants Sam to be someone she's not, the way Shelby ignored Sam for a boyfriend, and the way that Shelby abandons Sam at parties. Instead, Sam gets mad about other things; Shelby's drinking and flirtatiousness, and the possible damage to her reputation (love that subtle slut-shaming).

Meanwhile, Sam turns into a puddle of goo at the feet of an obviously obnoxious guy just because he has a pretty face, much like Rosie did over and over again. For all her judgment of Shelby for flirting with guys, Sam tries (though she pretends to be in ignorance of what she's doing) to string two guys along during the summer. She's single and has every right to do it, but so is Shelby free to do what she wants. Since Sam doesn't respect Shelby, I don't respect Sam. The actual romance in Famous Last Words is cute, but I was so irritated by Sam I didn't feel like she deserved the nice guy she got, because she learned very little. She does determine to do some more work on her relationship with Shelby, but her sense of elitism over the drunken, popular, pretty people never dissipates in the slightest.

Running through both of Doktorski's books is an intense distaste for underage drinking, and perhaps any drinking at all. The "good" characters almost never drink in both. While I'm not saying underage drinking or perpetual drunkenness is admirable, arguing, even through fiction, for such abstinence education is silly; we all know how the prohibition turned out. Neither Rosie nor Sam has, to my knowledge, a reason to be so anti-drinking, like a family member who suffers from alcoholism or was killed by a drunk driver. It just seems very out of place and preachy.

Both Sam and Rosie seem like believable people, and they are well-characterized. At the same time, they're not likable, at least for me. Of course, unlikable characters can be pulled off admirably, but my issue here is that I do not think that either was meant to be perceived as unlikable by the reader. The other characters generally seem to find them charming, and any hate they get is because they're too cool or talented and the other person is jealous. The fact that the two are so similar also seems a weakness.

My second experience with Jennifer Salvato Doktorski leaves me still convinced that she can do great things as a writer, but that she's not there yet. The continual themes of hatred of other women, of drinking and of slut-shaming bog down otherwise incredibly fun books. If you want to try Doktorski, I would recommend Famous Last Words over How My Summer Went Up in Flames. ( )