Ketchup Clouds by Annabel Pitcher

by:  Annabel Pitcher
published by:  Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
publish date:  November 12, 2013

Fifteen-year-old Zoe has a secret—a dark and terrible secret that she can't confess to anyone she knows. But then one day she hears of a criminal, Stuart Harris, locked up on death row in Texas. Like Zoe, Stuart is no stranger to secrets. Or lies. Or murder.

Zoe, through miscommunication and missed opportunities, ends up dating two brothers.  Because of a tragic incident one of them dies, and Zoe carries around the guilt of what really happened.  To help deal with burden she begins writing to a death row inmate without revealing her real name or address.

I ended up really liking this book, far more than expected to for a random YA pick from the library.  While I felt like the story seemed like it would be one for a little bit older character than 15, it did seem like a believable story.  

The story was set up in a way that the reader doesn't know who dies.  Only that someone it is someone close to Zoe, and eventually, one of the brothers that she is dating.  I enjoyed this storytelling style.  It built up the tension and definitely made it more interesting.

I liked it, it was well written, however I would probably steer this one to the older YAs.