Ketchup Clouds by Annabel Pitcher

Ketchup Clouds
by Annabel Pitcher

From the author of the very sad but great My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece, this is another tear-jerker - I loved it. It was moving, and true to life when describing teenage relationships. I just loved Aaron's character and, with everyone else who reads this, wished that 'Zoe'/Alice would confess her mistake and be with him from the beginning.

'Zoe' is telling her story in the format of letters to a prisoner on Death Row in Texas, partly because she feels the same guilt as him - he has murdered his wife and a neighbour in a fit of jealous rage, and she has caused a terrible accident due to her feelings for two brothers. It's about letting go of your guilt and moving on with your life.

Definitely teenage for bad language.

If you like this, you'll also like The Fault in our Stars by John Green, Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler, and Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan.

This book has recently won the Waterstones Childrens Book Prize 2013, and deservedly so!