Fiction for Teens

Zoe did something terrible, and somehow, she managed to get away with it. Ever since the incident she has kept what really happened a secret, until one day when she decides to write to a stranger to try and come to terms with what she has done. It’s no ordinary stranger though. It’s someone who knows about secrets – a murderer on death row in Texas, America. Zoe picks up a pen and begins to write…

The whole of the story is told in letters, with the main character Zoe revealing piece by piece the events that led up to the day she will never forget. As the story changed, the letters changed – although Zoe doesn’t receive any letters in return from Mr. Harris, the prisoner, the tone of her letters become more personal as the story progresses. The book started off well, but the middle section of the book dragged on a little with few hints or clues as to what Zoe had actually done that was so bad that she didn’t want to tell anyone.

The title and the synopsis really drew me in, however there is only one mention of the title in the whole book and I couldn’t really see how it linked in with the story.

So, after reading this book I will definitely take a look at Annabel Pitcher’s debut novel, My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece because I really liked the writing style and how the tension was built until the very last chapters when everything was revealed. Have you read Ketchup Clouds? Let me know what you think of it in the comments!