Famous in a Small Town by Emma Mills (+ My Love for the Author)

Kind without being cloying, Emma Mills books are the dose of optimism and humor you need on a bad day.

Published April 20, 2021

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Novel: Famous in a Small Town by Emma Mills
Release Date: January 15, 2019
Publisher: Henry Holt & Co. (Macmillan)
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher

As I gradually restore Words Like Silver to its archive of reviews written between 2011 and 2024, I'll aim to first and foremost make my reading history explorable by publishing the blurbs and short reflections as books cross my mind, with the goal of eventually transferring and fleshing out the original WLS content. For now, please enjoy this brief spotlight.

For Sophie, small town life has never felt small. With her four best friends—loving, infuriating, and all she could ever ask for—she can weather any storm. But when Sophie’s beloved Acadia High School marching band is selected to march in the upcoming Rose Parade, it’s her job to get them all the way to LA. Her plan? To persuade country singer Megan Pleasant, their Midwestern town’s only claim to fame, to come back to Acadia to headline a fundraising festival.


The only problem is that Megan has very publicly sworn never to return.

What ensues is a journey filled with long-kept secrets, hidden heartbreaks, and revelations that could change everything—along with a possible fifth best friend: a new guy with a magnetic smile and secrets of his own.

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I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump lately, mostly because I still cannot get over Firekeeper’s Daughter, and have already crushed my normal canon of go-to rereads. In perusing my bookshelves, I was trying to find a book that I knew I loved, but it’d been long enough that I was fuzzy on the details. Something light that I could just read before bed.

I ended up grabbing Famous in a Small Town by Emma Mills — and boy, did it deliver. I remembered all my favorite pieces of her writing: overwhelmingly good main characters who aren’t saccharine or grating; clever, witty banter that makes dialogue a pleasure to read; satisfying, small mysteries that are cleanly woven through the narrative. As a whole, her atmosphere is feel-good, and her narratives all have a warm, intimate quality.

I knew I’d loved This Adventure Ends, and she’s on my auto-buy list of authors — an extremely small list — in that I don’t even have to know the synopsis. I will buy and support anything she writes. I rarely request ARCs (advance reader copies) anymore, but she’s one of the few I request. I remember loving her others, including Famous in a Small Town, but I didn’t actually remember anything about it.

I’ve talked before about how reading is situational, which is why I love rereading so much. A book might hit differently depending on where you are in life, or how many times you’ve read it. At any given time, variant lines and moments will pop out to you differently. It’s why I’m a mood reader, and know not to pick something up if I’m not feeling it. Which also, coincidentally, is why I generally love most of what I read, because I know my taste and habits so well.

I’m not sure what it means about my personal life now that Famous in a Small Town hit me so hard upon rereading it last night, but I bawled. I’d forgotten that it had a major twist, and I’d forgotten how much exactly I loved her writing style. The strength of Emma Mills’ writing is that it is overwhelmingly feel-good — it makes you hopeful, and happy, and convinced in the sanctity of the good moments. But it’s not overly sweet or flat. There is tragedy, and suffering, and complexity. People change their minds, and learn new info. Characters clash. It feels much more real, without losing that optimistic quality. In that sense, her books are enormously satisfying in a way that makes her my favorite contemporary YA writer.

I kind of wish they’d written the jacket copy differently. Megan Pleasant is so not the main point of the book, and is more of a subplot than a focus. But that’s okay, maybe, because the nature of the book is interpersonal and not so much related to one centralized conflict.

Her conflicts are more so about completely derailing a personal philosophy, or outgrowing something, or having to solve someone’s fundamental problems. But, of course, they’re wrapped up in slow, summery settings, relatable dramas, funny dialogue, and characters you root for. They are quieter reads, but they can hit you hard (situationally) as evidenced by me appreciating the book more the second time around.

Her Characters Are So Warm & Lovely

I would love to meet and befriend Emma Mills, because each of the narrators she’s written has been an overwhelmingly good person. Obviously, there’s a difference between a protagonist and an author, but I have to believe that your values infuse your work in some way even if you’re writing someone entirely different from yourself. At this point, she’s written three or four protagonists that are just wonderful people. They’re kind, and virtuous to a fault, and put others before themselves.

They’re not inspirational in a sappy way — or a Mary Sue way, in which a character just blindly and naively does the right thing without realizing the gravity of the consequences — but they’re gratifying. In the first chapter of This Adventure Ends, a character calls out another kid at a party for being a jerk. It’s not holier-than-thou. It’s just…honest. Their kindness is active, and can be frictional, and is much more aligned with the kinds of real choices we encounter in day-to-day life.

Not to sound like a Hallmark card, but in my experience, kindness means a lot more when the doer of it has to take a risk. Other actions might be sweet or thoughtful but it means a hell of a lot more to me when someone is good and selfless when they’re actually giving a lot up by doing so. Her characters have to grit their teeth and suck it up and do the right thing even when it screws up their life a little — and, on that note, the right thing might not be the right choice for everyone, so it naturally causes conflict. Love to see it.

Also, side note, I love that her main character in Famous in a Small Town babysits, and adores the kids she babysits. There’s a giddiness and affection to the interactions with the kids that I loved (and don’t often see in books.)

The Towns Are Small & Cozy

I love these books for modern teens because there are group texts and the kinds of mundane feelings that often get swept under the rug, but Emma Mills amplifies them in a way that feels larger than life. Even if the conflict is getting the guy, or saving the band, or whatever it may be, her characters love little things and struggle with normal teen issues. So it’s a true testament to her writing and characterization that despite having seen it all before, and despite having been through it, I’m still willing to read about it and get sucked in. Will Sophie and August get together?!?!?

I love their ice cream shops and their Friday night football games. It’s the best kind of Friday Night Lights feeling that makes me remember the precise sensations of high school. The atmosphere is light and refreshing and perfect for summer, or whenever I feel the need to look at the world in a way that’s more optimistic and forgiving.

The Banter is Funny

My sense of humor is based on cleverness. I don’t like people being cruel, and I don’t like bathroom humor or anything that relies too much on being crude for shock effect. That’s partly where Emma Mills excels. The jokes — the inside jokes, the banter — all feels rooted in the past. The friends have an aura of history that lends their interactions depth, which is a quality I love to see in an ensemble cast. I want the sense that these people have known and loved each other forever, or at least have a solid repertoire of material from which to draw. (That same history also lends itself to much richer conflict, which is why I can be so captivated by familiar questions and concerns.)

That banter also keeps the pace quick. Pages of dialogue fly by.

They're Good, Clean Fun—So Great for the Younger Kids

These books are great for early YA readers, because they’re warm and wholesome, while still feeling reflective of the nuance of a teen’s life. There’s nothing particularly explicit or gritty, but the characters don’t feel oblivious either. That keeps the narrative from feeling cloying (my usual complaint for an overly angelic character, who — dear me! — wouldn’t dream of sipping a beer or kissing a boy!) and each decision to participate or not participate in something carries weight and intention. In that way, I think she has a balanced, thoughtful look at a lot of coming-of-age rituals in a way that appeals to both people who participate (party on!) and teens who might not yet be comfortable with drinking, hookups, drugs, or anything else. Normally, I wouldn’t feel the need to bring that up, as those things are individual and I don’t believe in censoring book content for teens — but just feel the need to flag Emma Mills as a lovely pick if you have a preteen friend or relative who might be venturing into teen books on the earlier side. Her books are a great place to start! Also, bonus points for wholesome books that are also inclusive, because some people have the unfortunate tendency to equivocate “wholesome” with “white and hetero.”

All in all, I love her books. I’m grateful for her optimistic, fresh tone and relatability without ignorance. They’re feel-good all around, stellar beach reads, and perfect intros for younger readers. Better yet? She’s pretty consistent. Her first book, First & Then, is the weakest of the bunch, and I still think it’s sweet, adorable, and worth the read (albeit maybe from the library.) I’ll absolutely drop everything to read whatever’s next from her.

Best for fans of:

The Bodyguard by Katherine Center; Eleven by Lauren Myracle; New Girl (TV), maybe?; Hallmark movies; Ted Lasso (TV).

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