YA Materials, Literature Log, Book #2: Ketchup Clouds

 Title: Ketchup Clouds

Author: Annabel Pitcher

Category: Edgar Award Winner


British teen Zoe (not her real name) sits the garden shed at night writing letters to an American Death Row prisoner, a way for her to confess to someone who doesn't know her. You see, last year, she was dating a boy called Max while secretly in love with his older brother Aaron. When Max found out--drunk, and in a rainstorm, the boys fought. The night ended with one of them dead. But now the boys' mother keeps coming around, wanting Zoe to share in her grief, and Zoe is far too weighed down by guilt for that. So she writes.


This book was quite good! I must admit I was unsure about it at first, but was quickly drawn into the story and writing style employed by Pitcher. Zoe is quite a relatable character for many teen girls, I think, especially ones dealing with first relationships and love. However, I must hope that no girl who reads this will emulate Zoe. I would use this novel with teens both as entertainment and as a display of what not to do when it comes to dating--Zoe makes some pretty terrible choices in this book, and it all adds up in a devastating way. Also, Ketchup Clouds deals with themes of divorce and overbearing parents, and Zoe's younger sister Dot is deaf and uses sign language to communicate with her family. All in all, I think this is a good book for teens.


-Emaleigh Kitchen

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

TBR: July

Image
For the month of July, a Goodreads group I'm a part of ( The Reading Frenzy ) is doing a TBR challenge! The theme is "Run Away With the Circus". The above are my choices, designed to match the categories as follows: Menagerie: Read a book with an animal in the title - The Bear and the Nightingale  by Katherine Arden, which I've already started and am enjoying so far! Big Top: Read a book with red and white on the cover - The Night Circus  by Erin Morgenstern. I've not yet read this novel, despite a desire to for years, so I'm very excited to get started on it! Cotton Candy: Read a light and fluffy book - Grimm's Fairy Tales . I don't have many "fluffy" books, so I thought fairy tales were a good substitute! Flyers: Read a book about/set in space - Artemis  by Andy Weir. I love Weir's first novel, The Martian , so of course I bought this one when it came out. I hope it's just as good! Grandstand: Read a hyped b
Read more

YA Materials, Literature Logs, Book #20: Dear Martin

Title:  Dear Martin Author:  Nic Stone Category:  YALSA's Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults Justyce is an intelligent boy in his senior year of high school at a private, highly acclaimed school. That doesn't matter, though, when one night he finds himself the victim of racial profiling when he was simply trying to get his drunk girlfriend home. Even months later, Justyce suffers from painful memories of handcuffs being snapped around his wrists and the fear he felt that night. In an attempt to combat this racial injustice, Justyce begins to write letters to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and tries to "live like" him when he can. However, the more time goes on, the more Justyce notices racial microaggressions everywhere at his predominantly white school, and he can't sit by and let it happen, not after what he experienced. Dear Martin is such a powerful book, much like Long Way Down . Its characters feel real, like kids that really exist in many communities all over
Read more

YA Materials, Literature Log, Book #5: Black Horses for the King

  Title: Black Horses for the King Author: Anne McCaffrey Category:  Author Assignment Black Horses for the King  follows Galwyn, a young runaway from his uncle's ship who meets Lord Artos--whom we know as King Arthur of legend--and uses his skill with horses to aid Artos in finding strong horses to bear his men in battle. Galwyn is skilled with horses, as his now-deceased father was a horse trader, and the boy loved the animals, so it isn't odd when Artos hires Galwyn to work as a groom and trainer for his fine black horses. In the process, Galwyn learns to care from horses and helps to perfect the horse-sandal, an invention that would later become known as the horseshoe. While McCaffrey's writing style is easy to read and understand, obviously geared towards a younger YA audience, I quite enjoyed it. I didn't feel that she "dumbed down" anything, showing a respect for the young audience. I also quite liked her character work, as Galwyn is easy to root for, a
Read more