Ketchup Clouds

Sometimes, I get stuck in a ‘reading rut’, where I either don’t want to read anything at all, or everything I try to read doesn’t hold my attention. This happened when I left university and finished The Hunger Games trilogy. It happened again when I finished my NCTJ this year. Nothing held my attention, nothing was exciting and I’d lost my love of reading.

After being incredibly disappointed by the long slog of a ‘chick-lit’ novel, I decided to pick up Ketchup Clouds by Annabel Pitcher, once again, not expecting much. I was proved wrong and this is the book that’s dragged me out of the dreaded ‘reading rut’.

Ketchup Clouds is the story of 14/15 (it’s never specified) year old ‘Zoe’, as she is known for most of the book. The story is set out over the period of a year when Zoe starts writing to a death row inmate in Texas, Stuart Harris. Zoe was prompted to become a pen pal for a prisoner after a nun gave a talk at her school about how she was trying to get the death penalty abolished.

Zoe also has a secret. She’s committed the same crime as Stuart Harris, the only difference being, she got away with it.

The novel is set out in letters, in each one, Zoe addresses Stuart’s situation and tells him what happens in the present day, as well as telling her story in fourteen parts about the build up to what happened, what happened and the aftermath. At first I thought I wouldn’t get on with the book because of the layout. I find it difficult to get along with books that are a constant stream of exchanges, whether it’s texts, emails or letters. But, the difference with Ketchup Clouds, was that there was no exchange. Zoe has given a false name and address so she can’t receive a response. The point is to get her story out and to confide in someone.

I found Ketchup Clouds to be complex for a young adult novel. Time shifts are not often made clear with headings, dates or times, but it’s easy enough to grasp what is going on and at what time. It’s a very dark plot, death and loss are huge themes. Zoe coming to terms with what she did and how it affects her are quite far removed from an average teen’s life, but you can sympathise with her. She deals with a lot throughout the book. The prospect of her parents divorce and her younger sisters being bullied and having disabilities bring the story back to reality and I’m sure readers could relate to some aspect of the characters lives.

Some sections make you want to say ‘oh for god’s sake’, usually when the most popular boy in school, Max Morgan and the mysterious boy with brown eyes make appearances. It does have it’s moments when it could turn into a typical young adult love story, but Pitcher pulls it back around.

Pitcher’s writing style holds your attention, with decent sized chapters, the build up to Zoe’s crime will take hold of you until it’s revealed. With slight hints towards what might happen, but no certainty as to whom it happens to, it keeps the drama at an all time high.

I don’t want to give away too much about Ketchup Clouds, but it’s probably one of the best young adult novels I’ve ever read. A thoughtful, complex, dramatic tale, it’s a story that will stick with you long after you’ve read the last page.

NCTJ: a student's view

Bit of a different kind of 'comeback' post. Exams, portfolio work and work have swallowed up most of my time in the past couple of months, so I thought I'd write a post on the course that tomorrow I have now completed.

These days to get a job in journalism, a lot of newspapers, magazines, television and radio stations are asking applicants to have an NCTJ accredited course. Some university journalism degrees aren't accredited, so having a degree isn't the be all and end all with this. I decided I wanted to pursue journalism at the end of my second year at university. My heart wasn't in creative writing anymore, but with one year left at university, I carried on and completed my degree. A year after finishing university, I'd gotten a place on an NCTJ diploma course at a college in Sheffield.

This course was not what I expected at all. In a bad way and a good way, I suppose. It took a while to adjust to the intensity and the level of work that was expected. I found it difficult for weeks because most days I'd leave college and head straight to work, so I didn't have any time to practice shorthand outside of college. Whilst other people in my class were building up speed quickly, I was stuck on speeds for weeks at a time.

In the beginning, I wasn't sure I could do it. I remember having tutorials with my tutors and expressing this worry, that I wouldn't pass exams, I'd never get a decent shorthand speed, my portfolio was crap, I wouldn't actually be able to do the job at the end of it all. I'd never hidden the fact that I wanted to be a music journalist, but it wasn't massively supported, nor was it really ever truly understood by my tutors. We were very much geared towards going off to work at newspapers

In all honesty, it's been like everything else I've ever done, not very well organised. Through miscommunication, or a lack of, a lot of things were always left until the last minute, and a lot of the time we didn't get priority in the college around other classes. Classrooms were sometimes changed and one of our lessons was cut down to an hour because of a timetable clash. We all failed one of our exams due to being told it was at the wrong time.

But, a while ago, a few people told me I couldn't do this. But I have. I've sat through public affairs PowerPoints that were 40+ slides long, shouted at my laptop, ranted and rambled about why I don't care about planning permission or some other irrelevant topic, stressed over revision, cried in the toilets at college, had choice words with tutors, had a story published in the local paper, went to court twice, went to an inquest and a council meeting. I've done all these things I wouldn't have done otherwise, gained experience and have a solid idea for the sort of area I'd like to work in. So to those who told me I couldn't: I just did.

It has hands down been the most stressful twenty-two weeks of my life, and I probably wouldn't have gotten through it with any ounce of sanity had it not been for a couple of really good friends. It's not all been great, but it's not all been awful either. And last week, I found out my portfolio had gained an A grade and I grew the balls to apply for the job of a lifetime. So, at the end of it all, it has most definitely been worth it.

Lucy In The Sky

I've hardly had any time to read in the past few months. I've missed reading, so when we finished for Christmas, I charged up my Kindle and scoured Amazon for some new books.

Lucy In The Sky was one of the books I came across. One of few books by Paige Toon that I haven't gotten around to reading. I like Paige Toon's books because they're always set in exotic locations and you really get a feel for what it must be like to be there. The stories and character occupations and backgrounds are always well thought out and interesting.

Lucy In The Sky surrounds Lucy Wilson, boarding a flight to Australia to attend her old friends, Molly and Sam's wedding. Just before take off, Lucy receives a text from her long-term boyfriend, James, insinuating he's slept with someone else. A whirlwind couple of weeks in Sydney see Lucy almost forget about James, agonise over him cheating or not cheating, reconnecting with Molly and Sam and falling for Sam's younger brother, Nathan.

Just as we've settled into an easy, Australian lifestyle, Lucy has to go back to London. This was the section of the book that created a bit of a lull. It felt like Toon was trying to wade through quite a large time span with not many events happening. Lucy is off at first, trying her best to settle back in, then she throws herself into her work, toying with the idea that James is cheating, then he isn't cheating, and it's a huge emotional see-saw. Light relief comes in the form of Lucy's various friendship groups at work and her old friends from university.

There's a slight curve ball towards the end of the book, which leads to the climatic ending and the happy resolution. The ending is left open ended, but I'm not sure there's anywhere else these characters could go. The resolution is what I expected and in the end, actually wanted for the characters.

Overall, I did enjoy Lucy In The Sky. I loved the chapters set in Australia, the setting and descriptions were luxurious and beautifully written. Lucy's pining after James and Nathan can be a bit tedious in parts, but it's not all horrendous. I'd recommend it for an easy, light read, but it's not the best Paige Toon novel, Chasing Daisy is far superior.