Ketchup Clouds

Ketchup Clouds (2012) is an epistolary, young-adult novel by British author Annabel Pitcher. Told through a series of letters written by a British fifteen-year-old who calls herself Zoe, the story follows Zoe’s pen-pal relationship with an American murderer on Death Row, whom she believes is the only person she can share her darkest secret with. As Zoe opens up about her troubled past, she begins dealing with her sense of guilt, grief, and remorse over what happened to her one fateful summer night. Through her relationship with her family, Zoe learns to put the past behind her and start anew. Ketchup Clouds won the 2013 Waterstone Children’s Book Prize, was named a YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults pick, and was nominated for the 2014 Edgar Allen Poe Award for Best Young Adult Fiction.

Told through a series of letters addressed to Stuart Harris, an American on Death Row for murdering his wife, the story begins in 2012 in England. A fifteen-year-old girl calls herself Zoe to protect her true identity, claiming to live on 1 Fiction Road. Zoe has a dark secret she cannot tell anyone she knows, so she begins sending letters to Stuart Harris in America, confessing her dark secret. Zoe lives with her argumentative parents, Jane and Simon, as well as her ten-year-old sister, Sophie, and deaf six-year-old sister, Dorothy (Dot). Zoe can’t understand why her parents argue so much but slowly comes to realize it has something to do with Jane begrudging Simon’s ill father.

Zoe is invited to a summertime party by the popular schoolboy Max Morgan. Zoe knows Jane won’t allow her to go, so she asks Simon instead, who grants her permission. Before entering the party, Zoe chats with an older boy whose name she fails to learn before her best friend, Lauren, pulls her away. Inside the party, Zoe sees the same boy but again loses him in the crowd. As Zoe looks for the boy, she runs into Max Morgan. Zoe and Max make out in Max’s room, during which Zoe’s blouse comes off. At school the next day, Lauren tells Zoe that Max took a picture of Zoe’s bare chest that has been spread around school. Zoe confronts Max about what he did, but he shrugs Zoe off without an apology.



At the annual bonfire night gala, Zoe runs into the boy from the party, who tells her that his name is Aaron. Aaron takes off with a girl Zoe presumes is his girlfriend, and Zoe becomes upset. Zoe then encounters Max, who sincerely apologizes for the photo he took and kisses her. When departing, Zoe realizes that Max and Aaron are brothers. The following day, Max invites Zoe to his house via text message. Although Zoe prefers Aaron, thinking he is already taken, she accepts Max’s invitation. Considering the mysterious grudge Jane holds against Simon’s father, Zoe feels it is okay to keep her own secrets. Zoe visits Max, but as she leaves, she lies to Aaron about seeing his brother. Aaron drives Zoe home and they chat the entire time. Aaron gives Zoe his phone-number. Back home, Zoe sees an ambulance and learns that Dot fell down the stairs, became unconscious, and broke her wrist.

On her library shift, Zoe meets Aaron again. They nearly kiss before being interrupted by a woman needing directions. Aaron leaves, but he and Zoe continue to meet at the library. Laura throws a party, during which Zoe spots Aaron with the girl he was with before and angrily leaves. Zoe tries to flee but runs into Max. They begin to make out, and when Max asks Zoe to meet his brother, she reluctantly agrees. She meets Aaron and confesses she’s coupled with Max. When Max unwittingly leaves the two alone, Aaron explains the girl he was with is just an old childhood pal, not his girlfriend. Aaron says there’s nothing between him and Zoe anyway. Incredulous, Zoe continues dating Max as a means of revenge. Aaron’s mother, Sandra, tells him to drive Zoe home, and they part on ugly terms. At home, Zoe hears an argument between her parents suggesting Jane was responsible for Dot’s deafness.

In the library, Zoe is snubbed by Aaron. Zoe tries to explain herself but is denied until she kisses Aaron. The two sprint out of the library into the rain, where they express their love for one another. They plan to tell Max of their feelings, but since Max and Aaron’s father is about to marry a new woman, Aaron knows Max isn’t in the right mind frame. Aaron tells Zoe to console Max rather than break up with him. Later, Zoe decides to break up with Max at the Spring Fair. During a rainstorm, Max drunkenly wanders into the forest. Zoe and Aaron follow, but when Max catches them kissing, he lashes out, demanding answers. Max and Aaron get into a tussle, moving closer to the edge of the stream. Max tries to grab Zoe. Zoe and Aaron simultaneously push Max away, and he falls into the stream and dies. When the police arrive, Aaron claims Max slipped.



Zoe is so beset with guilt in her final letter that she cannot visit Max’s family. Jane confesses that to avoid having a third child, she deliberately neglected Dot’s early medical condition. Dot’s meningitis was cured, but her hearing couldn’t be saved. Jane explains to Zoe that she has to let go of the guilt to heal. Zoe attends Max’s funeral and recites a poem written by Stuart Harris. Zoe signs her final letter with her real name, Alice Jones. The novel ends with Aaron sending a letter to Alice from Bolivia. Aaron explains that if you love something, you must set it free. Aaron implores Alice to shred the letter and, as a way to move on from her guilt over Max, never contact him again.