Ketchup Clouds

Product Information

Ketchup Clouds is a young adult novel by Annabel Pitcher. It follows the story of fifteen year old Zoe, who writes letters to a prisoner on death row, unbeknownst to her family and friends. Through the letters she reveals her deepest secrets and feelings, including her involvement in the death of her best friend. As the story progresses, Zoe finds the strength to face her inner demons and come to terms with the choices she has made. Ketchup Clouds is a story of guilt, redemption, and ultimately hope. Hello Yellow - 80 Books to Help Children Nurture Good Mental Health and Support With Anxiety and Wellbeing - Mr. Stuart Harris, an Oklahoma death row prisonbird and convicted murderer, is Annabel Pitcher’s pen pal. Zoe’s letters detail how she fell in love with two boys and killed one of them after she betrayed one of them. Although Mr. Harris is unlikely to respond to Zoe’s letters, someone will at least know her story. Her second novel, which is characterized by its balance of humor and heart, is a captivating story. The themes of first love, guilt, and grief are explored in Annabel’s book. She introduces a character with a memorable voice and a genuine sense of emotional connection. The Ketchup Clouds at S. Harris #993765 Polunsky Unit (Death Row) Livingston, Texas 77351, USA, is open to the public. Ketchup Clouds: Finding Joy In The Darkest Of Places The conversations between Aaron and Zoe seemed forced. I don't see these teens having such witty conversations. Only 20-something hipsters talk the way they do.

The missed chances with the death row conversation was ARGHGHGHGHGH inducing. I read that the lead character was writing to a death row inmate, and I wanted to read those interactions (even though I was underwhelmed by My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece). Unfortunately, she's writing anonymously, so we don't hear anything from Stuart Harris, her penpal, and we get his story in ridiculously convoluted snippets where Zoe guesses what he might feel, think, or remember. Zoe is also ridiculously patronising to Harris (to facilitate exposition), heavy-handed, reductive, disrespectful and depressingly ignorant in a way wikipedia could have fixed. Certainly an opportunity to talk about capital punishment, prison, homocide and justice was completely missed and that is INFURIATING, since it was the most interesting potential in the book.There are only a very few authors of young adult fiction that can really engage me as an adult reader, who can write novels that seem as relevant to an adult as they do to teenagers. Tabitha Suzuma and the late Siobhan Dowd are two of the best, and Annabel Pitcher is now firmly up there with them in my eyes. An inclusive element lies in the depiction of Zoe's younger sister Dot, who is deaf. Dot is an endearing and fully-rounded character, and whilst the subject of deafness is generally dealt with naturally and casually, the book also makes a powerful comment about one of the possible causes of infant deafness and the impact on her family. Trigger warning: Sexual consent issues. Slut shaming. Sexual coercion. Talk of domestic violence leading to death. Indecent photos taken and distributed without consent; utilised for public humiliation.

I like winter and I like the dark and I like cats and I like the rain and I like walking up mountains and sitting at the top in the fog . That's all I need to know about my life right now. It's pretty simple” My other sister, Soph, is ten. They've both got long blond hair and green eyes and pointy noses, but Soph is tall and thin and darker-skinned, like Dot's been rolled out and crisped in the oven for ten minutes. I'm different. Brown hair. Brown eyes. Medium height. Medium weight. Ordinary, I suppose. To look at me, you'd never guess my secret.I won't tell you how much I love you, or how scared I am of being without you, or how I need to hide away from everyone because no one will ever compare to you... I will simply let you go. True love is about sacrifice, after all, and if I want you to be free of the memory of Max then you need to be free of me.” This an award winning YA book it's a mystery, with plot twisting turns that lot of so called adult books don't have. A wonderful, romantic and sad story told through a series of letters written by a fifteen-year-old girl to a man on death row. It's heartstoppingly gorgeous and we'd recommend it to anyone. (Jill Murphy The Book Bag)

Longlisted for the Carnegie Medal 2014 - Shortlisted for the Leeds Book Awards 2014, 14-16 age category - July 2013 Book of the Month - Winner of the Waterstones prize for new and emerging talent 2013 This wasn't just one story about Zoe, the main character. It interweaves 3 stories together. Zoe, Stuart's, and Dot's. The plot and story line was fast paced and makes you ponder why, what, how, when.I will admit that it did take me a while to get used to Zoe. The letters are clearly written in a younger voice than my own, which was difficult at first. However, as the book progressed and I got to know our protagonist, I could see her personality shine through on the paper and she even managed to made me laugh quite a few times! Pitcher certainly has a talent for getting into the mind of her characters - not only Zoe, but the rest of the characters also felt very realistic. I find it amazing how well the author has written the voice of a young teenager.