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Catalyst
Meet Kate Malone—straight-A science and math geek, minister's daughter, ace long-distance runner, new girlfriend (to Mitchell "Early Decision Harvard" Pangborn III), unwilling family caretaker, and emotional avoidance champion. Kate manages her life by organizing it as logically as the periodic table. She can handle it all—or so she thinks. Then, things change as suddenly as a string of chemical reactions; first, the Malones' neighbors get burned out of their own home and move in. Kate has to share her room with her nemesis, Teri Litch, and Teri's little brother. The days are ticking down and she's still waiting to hear from the only college she applied to: MIT. Kate feels that her life is spinning out of her control—and then, something happens that truly blows it all apart. Set in the same community as the remarkable Speak, Catalyst is a novel that will change the way you look at the world.
232 pages, Paperback
First published January 28, 2002
About the author
Laurie Halse Anderson
87 books17.1k followersUPDATE! SHOUT, my memoir in verse, is out, has received 9 starred reviews, and was longlisted for the National Book Award!
For bio stuff: Laurie Halse Anderson is a New York Times bestselling author whose writing spans young readers, teens, and adults. Combined, her books have sold more than 8 million copies. Her new book, SHOUT, a memoir-in-verse about surviving sexual assault at the age of thirteen and a manifesta for the #MeToo era, has received widespread critical acclaim and appeared on the New York Times bestseller list for seven consecutive weeks.
Laurie has been nominated for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award four times. Two of her books, Speak and Chains, were National Book Award finalists, and Chains was short-listed for the prestigious Carnegie medal. Two more books, Shout and The Impossible Knife of Memory, were long-listed for the National Book Award. Laurie was selected by the American Library Association for the 2009 Margaret A. Edwards Award and has been honored for her battles for intellectual freedom by the National Coalition Against Censorship and the National Council of Teachers of English.
In addition to combating censorship, Laurie regularly speaks about the need for diversity in publishing and is a member of RAINN’s National Leadership Council. She lives in Philadelphia, where she enjoys cheesesteaks while she writes. Find out more about Laurie by following her on Twitter at @halseanderson, Instagram at halseanderson, and Facebook at lauriehalseanderson, or by visiting her website, madwomanintheforest.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,594 reviews
May 22, 2021
shrug.
it's fine.
is laurie halse anderson the jodi picoult of the YA set? is this a fair assessment?? jodi picoult's schtick is to just take whatever makes the headlines and structure a book around it. anderson's seems to be to take a teen problem and structure a book around it. (this is excluding her historical stuff, which i liked a lot more than any of the three contemporary problem novels i have read) and it's probably a great thing that she does this - there are so many different problems, and i'm sure it is comforting to read stuff like this if you are going through stuff like this. (don't look at me, i'm not a spoiler bomb.)
and yet, i still want to read more from her. is that madness? what am i finding so compelling about her books that i keep reading them? because i have only ever been gently moved by them. i read them and it's eh and i grab another book and i never think of them again. what kind of a hold does she have over me?? does she have my kitteh hostage? nah, but it's like a potato chip book. i in fact just ate about half a bag of potato chips when my intention was to eat just one little salty handful. and then i was like, well, there's not that many left in here, i wouldn't want them to get stale or anything... and then i just kept eating and idly reading reviews on here(you guys write good reviews...) and then before i knew it, they were all gone. that is how her books feel to me. i know i am not getting anything out of them, but that salt...it defeats me.
i think it's great that the main female character in this is a total science nerd. that's great for young girls, right?? but everything else in her life is so crappy, what if it is because of her affection for science?? food for thought. maybe science makes your.... oh. nope, not a spoiler bomb. nice try.
this is kind of like a pre-black swan book, where there is a highly driven female character who should really have everything go right for her, based on how much time and effort she puts into being the best. but life has its own ideas.
that's just science, after all...
come to my blog!
it's fine.
is laurie halse anderson the jodi picoult of the YA set? is this a fair assessment?? jodi picoult's schtick is to just take whatever makes the headlines and structure a book around it. anderson's seems to be to take a teen problem and structure a book around it. (this is excluding her historical stuff, which i liked a lot more than any of the three contemporary problem novels i have read) and it's probably a great thing that she does this - there are so many different problems, and i'm sure it is comforting to read stuff like this if you are going through stuff like this. (don't look at me, i'm not a spoiler bomb.)
and yet, i still want to read more from her. is that madness? what am i finding so compelling about her books that i keep reading them? because i have only ever been gently moved by them. i read them and it's eh and i grab another book and i never think of them again. what kind of a hold does she have over me?? does she have my kitteh hostage? nah, but it's like a potato chip book. i in fact just ate about half a bag of potato chips when my intention was to eat just one little salty handful. and then i was like, well, there's not that many left in here, i wouldn't want them to get stale or anything... and then i just kept eating and idly reading reviews on here(you guys write good reviews...) and then before i knew it, they were all gone. that is how her books feel to me. i know i am not getting anything out of them, but that salt...it defeats me.
i think it's great that the main female character in this is a total science nerd. that's great for young girls, right?? but everything else in her life is so crappy, what if it is because of her affection for science?? food for thought. maybe science makes your.... oh. nope, not a spoiler bomb. nice try.
this is kind of like a pre-black swan book, where there is a highly driven female character who should really have everything go right for her, based on how much time and effort she puts into being the best. but life has its own ideas.
that's just science, after all...
come to my blog!
May 9, 2019
If I could run all the time, life would be fine. As long as I keep moving, I’m in control.Kate Malone runs at night. She does the housework and makes sure her younger brother and Reverend father are looked after. She is on the honour roll and can’t wait to attend her dream school, MIT. She barely sleeps. Her life is perfectly planned. Until it isn’t.
Teri Litch is an outcast. She wears her attitude like armour. She and her brother stay with their neighbours, the Malone’s, after a fire damages their home.
Family secrets are revealed and carefully constructed masks the characters wear for the world disintegrate as their lives collide.
I loved that Catalyst takes place in the same town as Speak and that Melinda has a short scene in this book. It’s the year after Melinda’s story so I gained some insight into what’s happened in her life since I saw her last. I specifically chose this as my next Laurie Halse Anderson read because I knew I’d get to see Melinda again.
Much like Melinda’s story in Speak, Kate and Teri’s stories are not complete at the end of this book. There is no happily ever after nor is there an epilogue filling the reader in on what happened in these girls’ lives after their final conversation. Sometimes a lack of resolution can annoy me but it didn’t here; life keeps going and what we have here are a few chapters in these characters’ lives. Life is messy and we don’t get to have everything neatly packaged up and prettified with a ribbon just because we want it to.
Okay, I know this contradicts what I just said but I would love to read a book written from Teri’s perspective! I’d like to find out what happens in her next chapter (hopefully something overwhelmingly positive) and, scary as it may be, I want to spend some time in her head. I didn’t feel much of a connection with Kate but Teri intrigued me as soon as I met her.
I liked the idea of using scientific terms as the chapter headings but, because my scientific nerd status is currently ‘wannabe’, their relevance to the content of each chapter went over my head. I didn’t want to get bogged down researching each term to figure out the connections but I imagine I’ll do this during a reread.
I read a review prior to starting this book that absolutely ruined the main reveals for me. Thanks, reviewer that shall not be named who didn’t hide their spoilers! Because I knew these going in, I was easily able to pick up on clues of what was to come and the reveals lost some of their emotional impact. I would have loved to have had the chance to figure these out for myself so will be more selective with the reviews I read before I’ve finished a book in the future.
Bonus Points for the Author: Anyone who includes Tori Amos in their book’s acknowledgement section gets a lifetime Kindred Spirit award from me. 🏆
Content warnings include grief, family violence, sexual assault, bullying and .
December 1, 2007
This is very typical "Young Adult" fare, with every emotion and act being handled with high drama. Everything could lead to the end of the world in this girl's mind.
I don't enjoy this kind of book, but I understand its place in juvenile literature. It feeds a certain kind of reader.
That aside, I didn't care for much of this book. The premise was slippery at best. A girl smart enough to think she can get in to MIT but doesn't apply to any other schools. A girl that smart, but who lies about applying to other schools. A girl that smart, athletic, and strong enough of nerve to mouth off to a bully who takes on the entire football team, but doesn't apply to more than one college ... and lies about it. Hmm. Doesn't fit for me.
The aspect of the girl being a runner and one who often runs as a way to spend time thinking, was never explored properly or used efficiently.
I liked being surprised that the little boy was actually the son (not the brother that we expected) of the female bully. And the son by the bully's father! A great twist and character defining opportunity.
Having the boy die seemed totally unnecessary, even to create high drama for a YA book.
I wouldn't recommned this, even to those who like YA books.
I don't enjoy this kind of book, but I understand its place in juvenile literature. It feeds a certain kind of reader.
That aside, I didn't care for much of this book. The premise was slippery at best. A girl smart enough to think she can get in to MIT but doesn't apply to any other schools. A girl that smart, but who lies about applying to other schools. A girl that smart, athletic, and strong enough of nerve to mouth off to a bully who takes on the entire football team, but doesn't apply to more than one college ... and lies about it. Hmm. Doesn't fit for me.
The aspect of the girl being a runner and one who often runs as a way to spend time thinking, was never explored properly or used efficiently.
I liked being surprised that the little boy was actually the son (not the brother that we expected) of the female bully. And the son by the bully's father! A great twist and character defining opportunity.
Having the boy die seemed totally unnecessary, even to create high drama for a YA book.
I wouldn't recommned this, even to those who like YA books.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 18, 2021
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So I'm doing this project where I'm rereading the books I enjoyed as a teen. It's called the literary-sad-girl-canon, because I was both mopey and precocious, a literary sad girl. Yes, I know it's dumb but that's what I'm calling it. Anyway, when I was young, my mopey self was super into Laurie Halse Anderson. I mean, super. I didn't know book-signings were a thing back then but if I did, I probably would have dragged my mom to one because I worshipped this woman. SPEAK was the first book of hers I read and I loved it so much I wanted to read everything else that she wrote too. Unfortunately, though, nothing else came close except, maybe, WINTERGIRLS and TWISTED (I remember liking those a lot but it's been years since I read them and I can no longer vouch for Teen Me's choices).
One thing I like about Anderson's books is that all of her protagonists are so different. PROM is about a bad girl who might not be so bad. SPEAK is about an outcast struggling to find her place and overcome trauma. CATALYST is about a good girl with some bad problems. Kate Malone is a preacher's daughter with aspirations to get into MIT. She's so confident (or risky) that it's the only school she applied to-- no safeties. As she gets more and more neurotic about the acceptance deadlines, more trouble brews. Teri Litch, the school bad girl and Kate's ex-bully, has her house burn down, so she ends up staying with Kate-- along with her little brother. Saturday morning sitcom this is not.
I don't think this book is quite as strong as SPEAK but it's a better book than PROM and attempts to tackle some pretty serious topics, like not getting into your dream college, the struggle between selfish and selfless actions, incest (yikes), and dead loved ones/grief. I actually really liked Kate because she reminded me a lot of me in high school and college. I was also very grades and extra curriculars focused and I tended to beat myself up about it. I also had my heart set on one college but unlike Kate (spoilers) I got in. Where it failed, I think, is that the story just isn't as compelling as SPEAK was. SPEAK, to me, felt very linear with a clear message whereas CATALYST was much more disorganized. It ventured from topic to topic, like an after school special that wasn't sure what it was supposed to be warning me against, and even though I did find Kate a compellingly unlikable (but relatable) heroine, I just didn't quite vibe with her the way I did with Melinda.
P.S. Melinda makes a cameo in this book. She's still creating art. YAAAAAASS.
3 stars
January 12, 2018
It isn't often that I give books I manage to finish reading one star, mainly I DNF at an earlier stage but with Catalyst, that was a different story. Because of the short length, I decided to plough through and see if the storyline and characters were going to be appealing and compelling. Sadly, it was neither of those things. I enjoyed Forge and Chains both by the same author when I read them aged fourteen as a high school student but since then, the writing style doesn't quite sit well with me.
Kate Malone lives with her Dad who is a reverend and after applying for College, a fire occurs nearby meaning one of her nemesis having to move in as the house is being rebuilt. Will say trigger warning for death as a young character does die towards the end of the story which was upsetting to read. I couldn't connect with Kate or any of her fellow classmates, the plotline was disjointed and some of the actions undertaken by the main character Kate to be childish and questionable. The ending was also abrupt leaving me with more questions than answers.
Very disappointed, will not be reading any more books by this author.
Kate Malone lives with her Dad who is a reverend and after applying for College, a fire occurs nearby meaning one of her nemesis having to move in as the house is being rebuilt. Will say trigger warning for death as a young character does die towards the end of the story which was upsetting to read. I couldn't connect with Kate or any of her fellow classmates, the plotline was disjointed and some of the actions undertaken by the main character Kate to be childish and questionable. The ending was also abrupt leaving me with more questions than answers.
Very disappointed, will not be reading any more books by this author.
January 24, 2012
(-_-)
^
You see that face right there? That was what my face looked like when I finished reading this book eight minutes ago. Yeah. That's right. I used a carrot. This book doesn't even deserve a real arrow.
What was Anderson thinking when she decided to write this book? Maybe this:
Hmm, let's see. Maybe I'll write a book about a nerdy preacher daughter who really loves science and math. She's only going to apply to MIT since she's all smart and everything. And then she'll get rejected and be devastated. Oh! And then meanwhile, she can have these neighbors whose house burned down! And since her father's a preacher, they'll have to live with her. Oh! And guess what else? The daughter in that family will be Kate's (that's what her name will be) 'arch nemesis'. And they'll have to get along. Ah. Too simple. Someone has to die. But who...? *Thinking* Oh I know! We'll just kill off the little 'brother'. He'll get electrocuted to death. That's pretty good. But wait, there has to be another twist. This 'brother' could be the actual son of the nemesis (Teri her name will be). Yeah, and to top it off, it'll be by her father! WHOA!!!!!!!!!!
Not.
I'm sorry if I'm giving away spoilers. But really, come on. It clearly says on the first page summary (and i quote)
4. Death--Fiction.
Someone has to die.
And you might as well know now that it was the little 'brother'.
I didn't mind the writing style at all. I enjoy how Anderson writes. The thing was, nothing was even resolved. I know that in real life, often times things don't have a happy ending. But this book didn't even have a sad ending. It didn't have anything. There was a lot of moping around going on in this book. Kate would mope. Teri would mope. And the worst part to me, about everything, was when Teri stole Kate's watch. I didn't even like Kate (she's stupid for only applying to one darn school) but i was ticked off for her. AND she stole the necklace. Things like that get on my nerves.
Sigh. This is just like that darn Twisted book. Same author. Same none plot. Sigh. Sigh. Sigh. Okay let me stop. I'm beginning to sound like the characters in this book. Too late.
^
You see that face right there? That was what my face looked like when I finished reading this book eight minutes ago. Yeah. That's right. I used a carrot. This book doesn't even deserve a real arrow.
What was Anderson thinking when she decided to write this book? Maybe this:
Hmm, let's see. Maybe I'll write a book about a nerdy preacher daughter who really loves science and math. She's only going to apply to MIT since she's all smart and everything. And then she'll get rejected and be devastated. Oh! And then meanwhile, she can have these neighbors whose house burned down! And since her father's a preacher, they'll have to live with her. Oh! And guess what else? The daughter in that family will be Kate's (that's what her name will be) 'arch nemesis'. And they'll have to get along. Ah. Too simple. Someone has to die. But who...? *Thinking* Oh I know! We'll just kill off the little 'brother'. He'll get electrocuted to death. That's pretty good. But wait, there has to be another twist. This 'brother' could be the actual son of the nemesis (Teri her name will be). Yeah, and to top it off, it'll be by her father! WHOA!!!!!!!!!!
Not.
I'm sorry if I'm giving away spoilers. But really, come on. It clearly says on the first page summary (and i quote)
4. Death--Fiction.
Someone has to die.
And you might as well know now that it was the little 'brother'.
I didn't mind the writing style at all. I enjoy how Anderson writes. The thing was, nothing was even resolved. I know that in real life, often times things don't have a happy ending. But this book didn't even have a sad ending. It didn't have anything. There was a lot of moping around going on in this book. Kate would mope. Teri would mope. And the worst part to me, about everything, was when Teri stole Kate's watch. I didn't even like Kate (she's stupid for only applying to one darn school) but i was ticked off for her. AND she stole the necklace. Things like that get on my nerves.
Sigh. This is just like that darn Twisted book. Same author. Same none plot. Sigh. Sigh. Sigh. Okay let me stop. I'm beginning to sound like the characters in this book. Too late.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 10, 2012
Not anywhere nearly as good as Speak. Kate, the science brain who is nevertheless too stupid (or too driven) to apply to any other college than MIT, doesn't get in (that's not a spoiler, it's the first twenty pages) and her life is turned upside down when her reverend father takes in Teri Litch, an outcast girl, and Teri's mother and young brother. Teri is the catalyst of the hackneyed title, altho we never see anything from her point of view and never get to know her as a character. We don't get to know any other characters, either. Where Melinda, in Speak, was believably acid-tongued because of the trauma she was enduring, Kate's bright brittleness is blamed on the early death of her mother (whom we never see, either). The division of her character into outward, conforming Good Kate and inner caustic Bad Kate is as binary and simplistic as the nomenclature. Unlike the year-long exploration of the art program in Speak, the chemistry talk in this book feels painted on, a thin literary contrivance that can't support the thematic weight it's asked to bear in place of real structure or characterization. The real story here is Teri's, but nobody tells it -- not Teri, not Kate, not Anderson herself. Kate's English teacher "still thinks understanding Greek mythology is the key to happiness. If you ask me, Theresa Litch is a living, breathing Greek tragedy." In an especially annoying and typical trend in modern literature, the plot and its problems are never resolved -- there's just a fake 'epiphany,' and the book simply ends. Melinda herself from Speak makes a cameo as a student building an art installation on campus, but it's just a gag since she and Kate only exchange a few words and she means nothing to the story. I paid two dollars for this book at a Value Village, and it was too much.
Probably Catalyst's biggest disappointment, and the biggest reason for its failure, is its heroine -- or rather, heroines. Anderson falls into one of the oldest narrative traps of all: how do you write about a boring character without being boring? Kate isn't boring, exactly (well, probably not intentionally, anyway) but she's closed-off and defensive and shut down. Teri is the one with the story which drives the plot, but we're stuck listening to Kate; Melinda couldn't speak to the people around her in her own world, and so her voice, speaking directly to us, created a unique bond between the character and the readers. Her story not only had a clear arc and well-defined end, there was a reason she was telling it, to us; the storytelling itself became part of the plot and theme, as it does with all good first-person novels. Kate, by contrast, doesn't speak to -- or for -- us, or anyone else, at all.
Probably Catalyst's biggest disappointment, and the biggest reason for its failure, is its heroine -- or rather, heroines. Anderson falls into one of the oldest narrative traps of all: how do you write about a boring character without being boring? Kate isn't boring, exactly (well, probably not intentionally, anyway) but she's closed-off and defensive and shut down. Teri is the one with the story which drives the plot, but we're stuck listening to Kate; Melinda couldn't speak to the people around her in her own world, and so her voice, speaking directly to us, created a unique bond between the character and the readers. Her story not only had a clear arc and well-defined end, there was a reason she was telling it, to us; the storytelling itself became part of the plot and theme, as it does with all good first-person novels. Kate, by contrast, doesn't speak to -- or for -- us, or anyone else, at all.
June 27, 2013
Me before reading Catalyst:
Ooh it's written by Laurie Halse Anderson! This should be good!
Me after reading:
Why the hell did I even waste money on this book and WHY did I actually waste precious reading time to suffer through this garbage??
Yep. It was that bad.
And the thing is, I kept reading, mistakenly thinking that this would be one of those books that resolves everything in the last few pages and everything clicks by the end of the novel.
But, disappointingly, nothing was resolved. At all.
Another thing that bugged me was how stupid Kate was. She brings shame upon all perfectionists everywhere; if I was one, I would be very offended by how they are portrayed. It is claimed that she is a straight-A student who is perfect in school. But, alas, she has absolutely no common sense. She doesn't apply to multiple colleges, because she is obsessed with MIT. (Which is completely out of character.) Not only that, but she spends the entirety of the book moping around and whining.
The multiple references to chemistry was a bit overused and unnecessary, in my opinion.
To me, there wasn't really a point to this novel. It kind of just rambled on and on about MIT this, cross-country that, and loads of drama over insignificant things. To say Kate is melodramatic is an understatement.
Don't get me wrong, Kate's character actually had potential. If LHA executed her character well, this would have been a semi-enjoyable read. But she was so unbearable and irritating that it was hard to sympathize with her.
Maybe I'm totally missing the point of this book. Maybe this book has a really good message that I am unable to see. I don't know. What I do know for sure is that this book was a pain to read, and unless you want to torture yourself and be trapped in the mind of Kate Whining Malone, you probably won't be a fan of this one.
Ooh it's written by Laurie Halse Anderson! This should be good!
Me after reading:
Why the hell did I even waste money on this book and WHY did I actually waste precious reading time to suffer through this garbage??
Yep. It was that bad.
And the thing is, I kept reading, mistakenly thinking that this would be one of those books that resolves everything in the last few pages and everything clicks by the end of the novel.
But, disappointingly, nothing was resolved. At all.
Another thing that bugged me was how stupid Kate was. She brings shame upon all perfectionists everywhere; if I was one, I would be very offended by how they are portrayed. It is claimed that she is a straight-A student who is perfect in school. But, alas, she has absolutely no common sense. She doesn't apply to multiple colleges, because she is obsessed with MIT. (Which is completely out of character.) Not only that, but she spends the entirety of the book moping around and whining.
The multiple references to chemistry was a bit overused and unnecessary, in my opinion.
To me, there wasn't really a point to this novel. It kind of just rambled on and on about MIT this, cross-country that, and loads of drama over insignificant things. To say Kate is melodramatic is an understatement.
Don't get me wrong, Kate's character actually had potential. If LHA executed her character well, this would have been a semi-enjoyable read. But she was so unbearable and irritating that it was hard to sympathize with her.
Maybe I'm totally missing the point of this book. Maybe this book has a really good message that I am unable to see. I don't know. What I do know for sure is that this book was a pain to read, and unless you want to torture yourself and be trapped in the mind of Kate Whining Malone, you probably won't be a fan of this one.
January 16, 2009
This book is a work of terrible genius, but I can't go into too much detail because it will break me. Suffice it to say that it's brilliant and that it completely blindsided me and wrecked me emotionally in a way that no other book I've read has ever done.
January 29, 2021
This book was extremely bad (And don't get me started on how hideous the cover is on Goodreads. WHY DID THEY PUT AN EYE ON IT?).
Catalyst is about straight-A student Kate who has always dreamed of going to MIT like her mother. She also takes care of her family, has a terrible sleeping schedule, and is obsessed with long distance running. This book starts out when her neighbor's house burns down and she has to live with her "nemesis" Teri and her brother.
SPOILERS AHEAD
I absolutely hated Kate. She was the worst. She is also an idiot. Kate, despite being written to be intelligent, didn't have enough brain cells to figure out that it was a good idea to apply to multiple colleges. Apparently she was so confident that she would get in AFTER BEING DENIED EARLY DECISION because she was just SO SMART RIGHT??? RIGHT?? The more I think about her the more I hate her.
YES, she did take care of her family and cared for them but she blew off people CONSTANTLY. The right decisions were staring her in the face and she was like NAH imma just go on a run. Not to mention that I think she was addicted to running in A VERY UNHEALTHY and HARMFUL way. The book did not address this at all. She also would always think about "bad" and "good" Kate and that drove me slightly insane, just decide which one you want to be! SHE WAS THE NARRATOR OF THE BOOK and I really just wanted to give her a piece of my mind because she really needed it. (I really think she had less functioning brain cells than a bowl of oatmeal.)
I can't talk about her anymore because I think I would actually drive myself off a cliff in her weird car. So let's talk about the other, underdeveloped and strange characters. Teri is such an as-toundingly frustrating character and the "character arc" Anderson attempted was sad. She bullied and beat up Kate in Elementary school, treated her badly throughout middle and high school, stole her stuff, and practically kicked her in this book, and somehow they become friends at the end? Why? I don't know. No matter what anyone says to justify their friendship I will NEVER understand why they ended up being friends.
Kate's friends and family were extremely underdeveloped and they always tried to help her out but all she did was think she was so alone and why is life so hard? Honey, life is hard but you are MAKING IT EVEN HARDER ON YOURSELF! Stop sleep-depriving yourself and thinking you're so cool and start realizing that you are actually just dying on the inside like the rest of us. (I am mostly kidding.)
Plot: (INTENSE SPOILERS)
SO DUMB. Nothing that happened in this book mattered. All of it was nothingness and I FELT NOTHING. They killed Teri's son (who was a child from being molested by her dad) for no reason and the only time they addressed the assault was when the main character uttered an "I'm sorry" to them. Everything that happened just seemed foolish, unnecessary, and boring.
This book should not have been written. Not because it is horribly offensive or inappropriate just because it is BAD and meaningless. Take my advice and don't try to read Laurie Halse Anderson's works. Stick to the better ones which include the Chains series, SHOUT, and Speak (graphic novel or novel). This review doesn't even deserve memes.
Catalyst is about straight-A student Kate who has always dreamed of going to MIT like her mother. She also takes care of her family, has a terrible sleeping schedule, and is obsessed with long distance running. This book starts out when her neighbor's house burns down and she has to live with her "nemesis" Teri and her brother.
SPOILERS AHEAD
I absolutely hated Kate. She was the worst. She is also an idiot. Kate, despite being written to be intelligent, didn't have enough brain cells to figure out that it was a good idea to apply to multiple colleges. Apparently she was so confident that she would get in AFTER BEING DENIED EARLY DECISION because she was just SO SMART RIGHT??? RIGHT?? The more I think about her the more I hate her.
YES, she did take care of her family and cared for them but she blew off people CONSTANTLY. The right decisions were staring her in the face and she was like NAH imma just go on a run. Not to mention that I think she was addicted to running in A VERY UNHEALTHY and HARMFUL way. The book did not address this at all. She also would always think about "bad" and "good" Kate and that drove me slightly insane, just decide which one you want to be! SHE WAS THE NARRATOR OF THE BOOK and I really just wanted to give her a piece of my mind because she really needed it. (I really think she had less functioning brain cells than a bowl of oatmeal.)
I can't talk about her anymore because I think I would actually drive myself off a cliff in her weird car. So let's talk about the other, underdeveloped and strange characters. Teri is such an as-toundingly frustrating character and the "character arc" Anderson attempted was sad. She bullied and beat up Kate in Elementary school, treated her badly throughout middle and high school, stole her stuff, and practically kicked her in this book, and somehow they become friends at the end? Why? I don't know. No matter what anyone says to justify their friendship I will NEVER understand why they ended up being friends.
Kate's friends and family were extremely underdeveloped and they always tried to help her out but all she did was think she was so alone and why is life so hard? Honey, life is hard but you are MAKING IT EVEN HARDER ON YOURSELF! Stop sleep-depriving yourself and thinking you're so cool and start realizing that you are actually just dying on the inside like the rest of us. (I am mostly kidding.)
Plot: (INTENSE SPOILERS)
SO DUMB. Nothing that happened in this book mattered. All of it was nothingness and I FELT NOTHING. They killed Teri's son (who was a child from being molested by her dad) for no reason and the only time they addressed the assault was when the main character uttered an "I'm sorry" to them. Everything that happened just seemed foolish, unnecessary, and boring.
This book should not have been written. Not because it is horribly offensive or inappropriate just because it is BAD and meaningless. Take my advice and don't try to read Laurie Halse Anderson's works. Stick to the better ones which include the Chains series, SHOUT, and Speak (graphic novel or novel). This review doesn't even deserve memes.
March 2, 2018
Catalyst by Laurie Halse Anderson is a sequel/companion to Speak. It's set one year after the events of Speak. This novel is narrated by Kate Malone: straight-A senior, science and math whiz, and daughter of the local reverend. Kate's also a great runner, which is good because Kate's been running from a lot of things:
Kate has been the family caretaker since her mother died. She hasn't been sleeping as she waits to hear from her dream college (she runs instead). And now Teri Litch, Kate's nemesis, and Terry's little brother are living with the Malones. Kate tries to ignore all of these problems by running and keeping her head in the sand. Besides, things couldn't get any worse. Until they do.
You'll have to read the book to figure out what happens next because I don't do spoiler reviews.
So now we can talk about the book in technical terms: The book is broken up into elements (solid, liquid, gas) and features quotes from an AP Chem prep book. Most of them are straightforward enough to be understandable and relate to the story. Kate also makes use of scientific elements for her narration without being overly scientific (AKA confusing/boring).
I greatly admire Laurie Halse Anderson. She's a great writer and she never comes off as smug or pompous in her interviews at the back of her books. Even better, Anderson is a fresh voice.
That said, the voice here was not as fresh as it was in Speak. In other words, Kate's narration sounds a lot like Melinda even though they are completely different characters. That bothered me. I like that Anderson's prose is so snappy and often sarcastic, but it was weird having two disparate characters narrate in almost the same voice. Given the connection between these two books, I suppose comparisons are inevitable so I'll finish the thought: Melinda is a more likable narrator than Kate. That makes a difference.
Ironically, the increased dialogue in this book (Melinda does not talk throughout most of hers) doesn't make the characters more developed. The minor characters, particularly Sara and Travis, remain flat: developed enough to be quirky but not present enough to be memorable. This might be because Kate's social circle is larger, giving Anderson more characters to fit into the narrative.
The other thing to bear in mind about Catalyst is that it is not the same kind of book as Speak. Kate's path throughout the narrative, and her way through her problems, is very different than Melinda's. (If you haven't guessed yet, Kate's path involves a lot of running.) This book also has a different appeal. Speak seemed more universal, the scope for Catalyst is more narrow. Anderson does a great job of capturing the anxiety and drama that surrounds the college application/acceptance process. She also creates a compelling study of the silent, overachiever that seems to be at every high school. More importantly, Anderson shows that those achievements don't always come without a cost.
Overall, Catalyst is a good book. I enjoyed it and I would recommend it. But Speak was a great book that was, overall, more powerful than its sequel.
You can find this review and more on my blog Miss Print
Kate has been the family caretaker since her mother died. She hasn't been sleeping as she waits to hear from her dream college (she runs instead). And now Teri Litch, Kate's nemesis, and Terry's little brother are living with the Malones. Kate tries to ignore all of these problems by running and keeping her head in the sand. Besides, things couldn't get any worse. Until they do.
You'll have to read the book to figure out what happens next because I don't do spoiler reviews.
So now we can talk about the book in technical terms: The book is broken up into elements (solid, liquid, gas) and features quotes from an AP Chem prep book. Most of them are straightforward enough to be understandable and relate to the story. Kate also makes use of scientific elements for her narration without being overly scientific (AKA confusing/boring).
I greatly admire Laurie Halse Anderson. She's a great writer and she never comes off as smug or pompous in her interviews at the back of her books. Even better, Anderson is a fresh voice.
That said, the voice here was not as fresh as it was in Speak. In other words, Kate's narration sounds a lot like Melinda even though they are completely different characters. That bothered me. I like that Anderson's prose is so snappy and often sarcastic, but it was weird having two disparate characters narrate in almost the same voice. Given the connection between these two books, I suppose comparisons are inevitable so I'll finish the thought: Melinda is a more likable narrator than Kate. That makes a difference.
Ironically, the increased dialogue in this book (Melinda does not talk throughout most of hers) doesn't make the characters more developed. The minor characters, particularly Sara and Travis, remain flat: developed enough to be quirky but not present enough to be memorable. This might be because Kate's social circle is larger, giving Anderson more characters to fit into the narrative.
The other thing to bear in mind about Catalyst is that it is not the same kind of book as Speak. Kate's path throughout the narrative, and her way through her problems, is very different than Melinda's. (If you haven't guessed yet, Kate's path involves a lot of running.) This book also has a different appeal. Speak seemed more universal, the scope for Catalyst is more narrow. Anderson does a great job of capturing the anxiety and drama that surrounds the college application/acceptance process. She also creates a compelling study of the silent, overachiever that seems to be at every high school. More importantly, Anderson shows that those achievements don't always come without a cost.
Overall, Catalyst is a good book. I enjoyed it and I would recommend it. But Speak was a great book that was, overall, more powerful than its sequel.
You can find this review and more on my blog Miss Print
November 1, 2022
The catalyst was my first book by Laurie Halse Anderson and I was terrified of reading it.
This book was just okay not because of the plot but the length. The book has around 220 pages but it fully packed with so many different things as well as a lot of trauma.
While reading the book everything was really really rushed and I was confused how we moved through everything so quickly.
I would have love to seen more of basically everything. Kate Malone had a really interesting pov and reading about her fear of the future in correlation to going to college was very relatable as well as her overall fear of growing up and doing anything wrong.
The scenes where we were able to learn more about her almost anxiety about the future were really nice but I still wish we had more.
The thing I am most disappointed in is the so called "plot twist" of this book. What happened was horrifying and it felt so rushed. Usually I cry every easily while reading because of pretty mmuch anything and I would have 100% cried while reading this if it was longer.
I did not feel connected to the characters except for Kate in the beginning and it took away a lot of the emotions I often feel while reading.
Whenever something bad happens to a character I cry and get very emotional but when you don't know them or only know them for a short time you feel nothing.
For what happened I should have felt something.
So in summary the plot was a really good idea but I didn't like the execution. Even the slight bit of romance we got felt deeper than the actual plot line.
This book was just okay not because of the plot but the length. The book has around 220 pages but it fully packed with so many different things as well as a lot of trauma.
While reading the book everything was really really rushed and I was confused how we moved through everything so quickly.
I would have love to seen more of basically everything. Kate Malone had a really interesting pov and reading about her fear of the future in correlation to going to college was very relatable as well as her overall fear of growing up and doing anything wrong.
The scenes where we were able to learn more about her almost anxiety about the future were really nice but I still wish we had more.
The thing I am most disappointed in is the so called "plot twist" of this book. What happened was horrifying and it felt so rushed. Usually I cry every easily while reading because of pretty mmuch anything and I would have 100% cried while reading this if it was longer.
I did not feel connected to the characters except for Kate in the beginning and it took away a lot of the emotions I often feel while reading.
Whenever something bad happens to a character I cry and get very emotional but when you don't know them or only know them for a short time you feel nothing.
For what happened I should have felt something.
So in summary the plot was a really good idea but I didn't like the execution. Even the slight bit of romance we got felt deeper than the actual plot line.
February 6, 2009
{Catalyst* is missing a huge part of what could have made up a good book for me. The main character, Kate, is an ambitious over-achiever science geek with plans of getting into MIT, but her hopes are dashed when she is rejected from her dream school - and it happens to be the only college she applied to. Meanwhile the rest of her life is going crazy as her neighbor's house burns down and the messed up family - including a really rough and tumble girl Kate doesn't get along with very well - move in with her. It sounds like a great setup for learning to take what you're dealt and make the best of it, for learning to deal with rejection and failure and unexpected life events - for learning to grow up. But the book ends with Kate not really having dealt with a lot of the plot's conflicts, and not having learned very much. That is, though it's first person narrated, Kate's inner monologue lacks any real self-awareness, she never has any revelations or epiphanies at all about her situation, she mostly talks in circles and beats herself up. If anything, she seems to use the tragedy of her neighbors to sort of say "Well, it could be worse" and ignore all her problems and not resolve anything. Even at the end, though outwardly she seems more calm and some conflicts are partially resolved... there is no place where we can clearly see that Kate has changed very much, or if so, why and how. It just felt like this book went nowhere. A lot of the high drama elements came of nowhere, weren’t very effective, and then didn’t resolve.
Actually, there's a lot of stuff in {Catalyst that just doesn't work for me. I hated the gimmicky chapter headings of scientific concepts and "safety tips" under each one. They are really reaching to be metaphors for what's going on in the plot but when they make sense at all, they are kind of cheesy. I think the whole bit about Kate being a great cross country runner rang totally false - I mean, seriously, so many of the details are just WRONG, which mystifies me because in the acknowledgments Anderson thanks someone for providing details about cross-country. But the whole idea wasn't really used properly to deepen the character as much as it could have been, so it just seems like a waste. I don't know why so many writers who choose to write about runners try to make it all about some kind of masochistic obsession that's just slightly acceptable - for "good kid" characters; "bad kid" characters are cutters or something. Also, the idea of running obsessively as a metaphor for running away from problems? So old. And OBVIOUS. Gah.
I found this book at my house, but have no idea where it came from. I realized it was by Laurie Halse Anderson of Speak fame so I read it the other day, thinking if it was good I would keep it and if not, I would purge it with a bunch of other book I'm getting rid of soon. This one is going on the purge pile.
* And yes, the title really does have that { at the front. The ‘y’ in catalyst is also in a mathematical usage font, but I couldn’t replicate that here.
Actually, there's a lot of stuff in {Catalyst that just doesn't work for me. I hated the gimmicky chapter headings of scientific concepts and "safety tips" under each one. They are really reaching to be metaphors for what's going on in the plot but when they make sense at all, they are kind of cheesy. I think the whole bit about Kate being a great cross country runner rang totally false - I mean, seriously, so many of the details are just WRONG, which mystifies me because in the acknowledgments Anderson thanks someone for providing details about cross-country. But the whole idea wasn't really used properly to deepen the character as much as it could have been, so it just seems like a waste. I don't know why so many writers who choose to write about runners try to make it all about some kind of masochistic obsession that's just slightly acceptable - for "good kid" characters; "bad kid" characters are cutters or something. Also, the idea of running obsessively as a metaphor for running away from problems? So old. And OBVIOUS. Gah.
I found this book at my house, but have no idea where it came from. I realized it was by Laurie Halse Anderson of Speak fame so I read it the other day, thinking if it was good I would keep it and if not, I would purge it with a bunch of other book I'm getting rid of soon. This one is going on the purge pile.
* And yes, the title really does have that { at the front. The ‘y’ in catalyst is also in a mathematical usage font, but I couldn’t replicate that here.
July 22, 2009
This is another emotional story written by Laurie Halse Anderson. "Catalyst" is a novel about Kate - high school senior who thinks she has all her life planned out and under control. She is a perfectionist and does everything to make sure her life doesn't steer away from her plan. Some might think that Kate is self-centered and almost obsessive, but in reality she uses this orderliness to shield herself from the deep pain caused by her mother's death. After a series of events, some catastrophic, some not that vital, Kate is forced to lower her "shield;" she finally starts to understand what is really important in life and faces her emotional issues.
I enjoyed this novel. Anderson's writing, although it requires some getting used to, is superb and deeply personal. This is definitely one of the better YA books. Although I didn't come to understand Kate and Teri as much as I would like to (sometimes Anderson's writing is too subtle for me) and this book wasn't as focused as her other book I've read "Wintergirls", I enjoyed "Catalyst" enough to continue on reading this writer's other books.
I enjoyed this novel. Anderson's writing, although it requires some getting used to, is superb and deeply personal. This is definitely one of the better YA books. Although I didn't come to understand Kate and Teri as much as I would like to (sometimes Anderson's writing is too subtle for me) and this book wasn't as focused as her other book I've read "Wintergirls", I enjoyed "Catalyst" enough to continue on reading this writer's other books.
February 28, 2016
2.5 stars
December 14, 2012
After my last read, not to be confused with my last review, I needed something powerful and beautiful and character-driven. Catalyst turned out to be a perfect choice. Until now, my experience with Laurie Halse Anderson consisted solely of Speak. At that time, I didn't really read much realistic fiction, and I mostly steered away from unhappy books. As such, I really was not sure what to make of it, and could not appreciate it as much as I know I could now. Having read and super liked Catalyst, I'm pretty sure I need to reread Speak soon.
Speaking of Speak (which is published by Speak), Catalyst actually takes place in the very same high school, and Melinda makes a brief appearance. The Melinda here seems pretty happy and is still doing her art. Yay! Of course, she was only in for a page, but, hey, it was nice to see her and to get the sense that she's actually recovered. I really love when authors reference previous works.
Laurie Halse Anderson's writing makes me want to spin around Julie Andrews style because of how freaking wonderful it is. Seriously, if I had to quantify my favorite writing style, it would be one that is dark, funny, and dripping with wit. Her writing here fits in perfectly with John Green's and A.S. King's, in the category of writing so good that it kind of makes me never want to write anything, since I can never be that good at putting things into words.
Of course, Anderson does not merely excel at writing. She backs it up with characterization. Kate Malone bursts with personality. She has both teenage hubris and insecurity in spades. Her voice is powerful and acerbic. A pastor's daughter, she has developed a dichotomy within herself of how she's supposed to act and all the things she wants to say: Good Kate and Bad Kate. While this technique can be awful when done wrong, Anderson used it effectively. It just fit Kate and her rigorous need to be perfect warring with her judgmental personality.
Kate loves math and science, dreams of attending MIT, her late mother's alma mater. She's done everything she can: earned the grades, taken the tests, filled her life with extracurriculars, excelled at a sport, volunteered at her father's church, and worked part-time at a pharmacy. She's a shoe-in, right? Well, she told herself that anyway when she decided to apply only to MIT and nowhere else...even when she wasn't accepted early decision.
With the letter, hopefully the fat one, from MIT due any day, Kate cannot sleep, spending most of every night running or performing household chores. The own stresses in her life are put into perspective by a larger tragedy that forces her into a relationship with her childhood tormenter, Teri Litch. The main detractor in the novel was that I felt like Kate forgave Teri much too easily and let her get away with too much. The whole time I kept yelling at her to get the watch and necklace (both with sentimental value) Teri stole from her back.
Another wonderful thing about this book: the romance. Unlike most YA, it's not about Kate's relationship, nor does it include a new love interest. She already has a boy, Mitchell, her former rival, who she argues with a lot less now that they spend quite a bit of time kissing. Also setting this book apart, Mitchell is not the kind of guy most girls would find attractive, but Kate still thinks he's hot, which was so cute and refreshing. Their relationship definitely reads like one that will not last long once they go to college, and it was so much more authentic than all of these soulmates confessing their love on a first date.
While I do think some of the plotting elements were a bit rushed, I loved this book for the characterization, the writing and for completely surprising me. Seriously, there was a twist I did not see coming at all. Anyway, Anderson is brilliant, in case you didn't know that already.
Find more of my reviews and other awesomeness at A Reader of Fictions.
Speaking of Speak (which is published by Speak), Catalyst actually takes place in the very same high school, and Melinda makes a brief appearance. The Melinda here seems pretty happy and is still doing her art. Yay! Of course, she was only in for a page, but, hey, it was nice to see her and to get the sense that she's actually recovered. I really love when authors reference previous works.
Laurie Halse Anderson's writing makes me want to spin around Julie Andrews style because of how freaking wonderful it is. Seriously, if I had to quantify my favorite writing style, it would be one that is dark, funny, and dripping with wit. Her writing here fits in perfectly with John Green's and A.S. King's, in the category of writing so good that it kind of makes me never want to write anything, since I can never be that good at putting things into words.
Of course, Anderson does not merely excel at writing. She backs it up with characterization. Kate Malone bursts with personality. She has both teenage hubris and insecurity in spades. Her voice is powerful and acerbic. A pastor's daughter, she has developed a dichotomy within herself of how she's supposed to act and all the things she wants to say: Good Kate and Bad Kate. While this technique can be awful when done wrong, Anderson used it effectively. It just fit Kate and her rigorous need to be perfect warring with her judgmental personality.
Kate loves math and science, dreams of attending MIT, her late mother's alma mater. She's done everything she can: earned the grades, taken the tests, filled her life with extracurriculars, excelled at a sport, volunteered at her father's church, and worked part-time at a pharmacy. She's a shoe-in, right? Well, she told herself that anyway when she decided to apply only to MIT and nowhere else...even when she wasn't accepted early decision.
With the letter, hopefully the fat one, from MIT due any day, Kate cannot sleep, spending most of every night running or performing household chores. The own stresses in her life are put into perspective by a larger tragedy that forces her into a relationship with her childhood tormenter, Teri Litch. The main detractor in the novel was that I felt like Kate forgave Teri much too easily and let her get away with too much. The whole time I kept yelling at her to get the watch and necklace (both with sentimental value) Teri stole from her back.
Another wonderful thing about this book: the romance. Unlike most YA, it's not about Kate's relationship, nor does it include a new love interest. She already has a boy, Mitchell, her former rival, who she argues with a lot less now that they spend quite a bit of time kissing. Also setting this book apart, Mitchell is not the kind of guy most girls would find attractive, but Kate still thinks he's hot, which was so cute and refreshing. Their relationship definitely reads like one that will not last long once they go to college, and it was so much more authentic than all of these soulmates confessing their love on a first date.
While I do think some of the plotting elements were a bit rushed, I loved this book for the characterization, the writing and for completely surprising me. Seriously, there was a twist I did not see coming at all. Anyway, Anderson is brilliant, in case you didn't know that already.
Find more of my reviews and other awesomeness at A Reader of Fictions.
January 27, 2010
Even though I was exhausted, I stayed up until 1:00 AM reading Catalyst. I was all ready to put the book down, then something happened, and there was no way I could stop reading until the end.
Catalyst tells the story of Kate, a senior chemistry geek, who is determined to attend M.I.T. She is so fixated on going to the school of her deceased mother that she applied no where else and did not tell anyone. At the outset of the book, Kate is desperately waiting for a letter from the prestigious Cambridge school. Kate is the kind of girl who not only feels like she needs to be perfect in school, but also has to take care of everyone around her. She cares for her pimply younger brother's asthma and folds her minister father's laundry. When the next door neighbor's house becomes uninhabitable after a fire, and the neighbors have to move in with Kate and her family, the chemical reaction referenced in the book's title is set into motion. That reaction is further complicated by the fact that Kate receives that letter from M.I.T. that she was waiting for.
I could really relate to Kate's character as she struggles to deal with the demands and expectations of the people around her combined with her own feelings and expectations for herself. Furthermore, the plot was fast-paced and exciting. I have not yet read a book by Laurie Halse Anderson that I didn't love, and Catalyst is no exception.
Catalyst tells the story of Kate, a senior chemistry geek, who is determined to attend M.I.T. She is so fixated on going to the school of her deceased mother that she applied no where else and did not tell anyone. At the outset of the book, Kate is desperately waiting for a letter from the prestigious Cambridge school. Kate is the kind of girl who not only feels like she needs to be perfect in school, but also has to take care of everyone around her. She cares for her pimply younger brother's asthma and folds her minister father's laundry. When the next door neighbor's house becomes uninhabitable after a fire, and the neighbors have to move in with Kate and her family, the chemical reaction referenced in the book's title is set into motion. That reaction is further complicated by the fact that Kate receives that letter from M.I.T. that she was waiting for.
I could really relate to Kate's character as she struggles to deal with the demands and expectations of the people around her combined with her own feelings and expectations for herself. Furthermore, the plot was fast-paced and exciting. I have not yet read a book by Laurie Halse Anderson that I didn't love, and Catalyst is no exception.
January 5, 2024
Catalyst is a great book if you want a book not to deep but still hits important topics. I recommend reading!!
September 18, 2011
Last night I dreamed that I was sitting in a gathering of people, waiting for my turn to get up and play my violin. There was a tall guy with dark hair speaking to the crowd, and a little fat blond girl sitting across the aisle from me who the tall guy called an idiot. This struck me wrong, so I told him to stop. Not just because he’d called the girl an idiot, but because he’d yelled it, said it in a mean and condescending way. Instead of listening, though, he slapped the girl on the head.
I picked up my violin and left the room.
The reason I write about this dream is because I had it last night, right after I read this book, and in so many ways it’s revealing to how I feel about it. On one hand, I am a HUGE Laurie Halse Anderson fan and loved the poetic power of her words. On the other hand, I had a particular dislike for both the message of the book and the way it ended. Let me explain how my dream pertains to all of this.
In the dream I was waiting, waiting for my turn to play the violin, excited for the music, but captive to the words of the tall man giving the sermon. I felt much the same way reading CATALYST. My joy for the music was like the joy I felt in discovering Kate as a character. The girl is a minister’s daughter; her mother is dead; she takes care of her father and brother; she has issues with good and bad, particularly with integrating the good and bad parts of herself. This becomes clear when she refers to herself as both Good Kate and Bad Kate on the first page. It’s genius. Here’s the quote:
“On the outside I am Good Kate, Rev. Jack Malone’s girl, isn’t she sweet, she helps so much with the house, so sad about her mother, and she’s smart, too. . . . On the inside I am Bad Kate, daughter of no one, she’s such a bitch, thinks she’s all that, prays with her eyes open, lets her boyfriend put his hands all over her, Miss Perfect, Miss Suck-up, disrespectful, disagreeable, still waters run deep and dirty.” Catalyst p. 3-4
Then you see that Kate is running, not just for the exercise or because she’s good at it, but as a way to run from who she is, her feelings and thoughts and traits which don’t fit into the Good Kate mold. Despite the fact that this girl had straight A’s and had applied to MIT, despite the fact that she had really good friends and was an overachiever, I very much related to the perfectionist tendencies that drove Kate to run from herself.
Enter Teri: the nemesis whose house burns down (though we never learn the details of how). All we really know is that Teri comes to live with Kate because she has nowhere else to stay, that Kate and Teri don’t get along, not so much because Kate is a snob, though. More because Teri used to beat up Kate when they were younger, and because Teri flicks Kate off regularly and has a habit of being mean to her, and because Teri steals her things. Needless to say, I was not a Teri fan.
And this is where the tall man in my dream comes in. I was expecting to find a reason to like Teri. She has a little brother who is two-years-old who loves her to death, a mother who’s out of it, and a father who died in prison. There are lots and lots of reasons to feel sorry for Teri. She’s bullied at school by the football team, takes vo-tech classes, and is pretty much looked down upon by everyone in her life. I could relate to the bullying thing, and have a particular love for underdogs. So imagine my shock when I just could not, not matter how hard I tried, find a way to relate to Teri. I mean, yeah, sure she was taunted and teased and targeted by the football team. But she was a bully herself as well.
Now, I know a lot of people say that bullied kids turn into bullies, and I’m not going to argue with that. My guess is that the boys at Columbine would not have gunned down their classmates if they hadn’t been the targets of shameless bullying. And I agree that Teri had some horrible situations to deal with. Her home situation was a hundred times worse than mine was in high school; her situation at school was pretty bad too. Things got even worse for her in the middle of the book. So if anything, Teri had a right to be angry.
But as a child who was bullied so severely myself that people threw rocks at me, and as a person who was ostracized, who had to listen to boys make animal noises as I ran past, who was systematically pushed into walls, sexually harassed, and had nasty rumors spread around about me, I was always ALWAYS aware that I had a choice how I treated others. It was the constant ill treatment I received as a child that drove me not to treat others that way. Giving in to my anger, cutting people down, acting like a jerk was not an option. I chose not to be like my tormentors. It was the only form of control I had.
And Teri, no matter her circumstances, had a choice to how she treated others too. It was, in fact, the only form of control she had; and she chose to steal Kate’s watch and necklace, to hotwire her car, to steal food from the grocery store thus making Kate an accomplice to a crime. She chose to call Kate a spaz, to make fun of her inability to use a hammer, to point out her flaws, and to push her around. She chose to tear apart the house others build for her and throw paint cans at those who tried to be her friends. Now, please don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying Teri had no right to be angry—she had every right to be angry, but how is the way she dealt with that anger any better than a father who screams at his children and throws things because he’s a rageaholic? I’m going to be blunt here and say, I think it’s EXACTLY the same thing.
The difference is that when Laurie Halse Anderson writes about the rageaholic father in TWISTED, he’s the problem, and the one who ruins his family’s life. But when Ms. Anderson writes about the same kind of character in CATLYST, we’re supposed to pity the girl and see things from her point of view.
This is where the tall man giving the sermon in my dreams comes in. He represented Teri and the way she treated those around her. Even though the author tried to make Kate stop running by having her help out Teri in the end, I didn’t feel like Kate did the right thing. She calls her boyfriend a jerk for telling the truth to Teri. Here’s what he says to her, “ . . . I know you’ve had a really hard life. But that doesn’t give you permission to make Kate feel like shit, or make fun of people, or steal from them . . .” p.222
I get the impression that as a reader I’m supposed to be appalled by Kate’s boyfriend being so “mean” to Teri. But instead I’m sitting there, reading it, and agreeing with Every. Single. Word.
What Kate truly does at the end is disown “Bad Kate” instead of integrating her healthy negative feelings into her identity. She doesn’t really stop running, instead she runs into another bad friendship. One where the girl treats her like crap and Kate’s expected to just put up with it. Like the fat little blond girl that gets hit on the head in my dream. I feel sorry for her.
I picked up my violin and left the room.
The reason I write about this dream is because I had it last night, right after I read this book, and in so many ways it’s revealing to how I feel about it. On one hand, I am a HUGE Laurie Halse Anderson fan and loved the poetic power of her words. On the other hand, I had a particular dislike for both the message of the book and the way it ended. Let me explain how my dream pertains to all of this.
In the dream I was waiting, waiting for my turn to play the violin, excited for the music, but captive to the words of the tall man giving the sermon. I felt much the same way reading CATALYST. My joy for the music was like the joy I felt in discovering Kate as a character. The girl is a minister’s daughter; her mother is dead; she takes care of her father and brother; she has issues with good and bad, particularly with integrating the good and bad parts of herself. This becomes clear when she refers to herself as both Good Kate and Bad Kate on the first page. It’s genius. Here’s the quote:
“On the outside I am Good Kate, Rev. Jack Malone’s girl, isn’t she sweet, she helps so much with the house, so sad about her mother, and she’s smart, too. . . . On the inside I am Bad Kate, daughter of no one, she’s such a bitch, thinks she’s all that, prays with her eyes open, lets her boyfriend put his hands all over her, Miss Perfect, Miss Suck-up, disrespectful, disagreeable, still waters run deep and dirty.” Catalyst p. 3-4
Then you see that Kate is running, not just for the exercise or because she’s good at it, but as a way to run from who she is, her feelings and thoughts and traits which don’t fit into the Good Kate mold. Despite the fact that this girl had straight A’s and had applied to MIT, despite the fact that she had really good friends and was an overachiever, I very much related to the perfectionist tendencies that drove Kate to run from herself.
Enter Teri: the nemesis whose house burns down (though we never learn the details of how). All we really know is that Teri comes to live with Kate because she has nowhere else to stay, that Kate and Teri don’t get along, not so much because Kate is a snob, though. More because Teri used to beat up Kate when they were younger, and because Teri flicks Kate off regularly and has a habit of being mean to her, and because Teri steals her things. Needless to say, I was not a Teri fan.
And this is where the tall man in my dream comes in. I was expecting to find a reason to like Teri. She has a little brother who is two-years-old who loves her to death, a mother who’s out of it, and a father who died in prison. There are lots and lots of reasons to feel sorry for Teri. She’s bullied at school by the football team, takes vo-tech classes, and is pretty much looked down upon by everyone in her life. I could relate to the bullying thing, and have a particular love for underdogs. So imagine my shock when I just could not, not matter how hard I tried, find a way to relate to Teri. I mean, yeah, sure she was taunted and teased and targeted by the football team. But she was a bully herself as well.
Now, I know a lot of people say that bullied kids turn into bullies, and I’m not going to argue with that. My guess is that the boys at Columbine would not have gunned down their classmates if they hadn’t been the targets of shameless bullying. And I agree that Teri had some horrible situations to deal with. Her home situation was a hundred times worse than mine was in high school; her situation at school was pretty bad too. Things got even worse for her in the middle of the book. So if anything, Teri had a right to be angry.
But as a child who was bullied so severely myself that people threw rocks at me, and as a person who was ostracized, who had to listen to boys make animal noises as I ran past, who was systematically pushed into walls, sexually harassed, and had nasty rumors spread around about me, I was always ALWAYS aware that I had a choice how I treated others. It was the constant ill treatment I received as a child that drove me not to treat others that way. Giving in to my anger, cutting people down, acting like a jerk was not an option. I chose not to be like my tormentors. It was the only form of control I had.
And Teri, no matter her circumstances, had a choice to how she treated others too. It was, in fact, the only form of control she had; and she chose to steal Kate’s watch and necklace, to hotwire her car, to steal food from the grocery store thus making Kate an accomplice to a crime. She chose to call Kate a spaz, to make fun of her inability to use a hammer, to point out her flaws, and to push her around. She chose to tear apart the house others build for her and throw paint cans at those who tried to be her friends. Now, please don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying Teri had no right to be angry—she had every right to be angry, but how is the way she dealt with that anger any better than a father who screams at his children and throws things because he’s a rageaholic? I’m going to be blunt here and say, I think it’s EXACTLY the same thing.
The difference is that when Laurie Halse Anderson writes about the rageaholic father in TWISTED, he’s the problem, and the one who ruins his family’s life. But when Ms. Anderson writes about the same kind of character in CATLYST, we’re supposed to pity the girl and see things from her point of view.
This is where the tall man giving the sermon in my dreams comes in. He represented Teri and the way she treated those around her. Even though the author tried to make Kate stop running by having her help out Teri in the end, I didn’t feel like Kate did the right thing. She calls her boyfriend a jerk for telling the truth to Teri. Here’s what he says to her, “ . . . I know you’ve had a really hard life. But that doesn’t give you permission to make Kate feel like shit, or make fun of people, or steal from them . . .” p.222
I get the impression that as a reader I’m supposed to be appalled by Kate’s boyfriend being so “mean” to Teri. But instead I’m sitting there, reading it, and agreeing with Every. Single. Word.
What Kate truly does at the end is disown “Bad Kate” instead of integrating her healthy negative feelings into her identity. She doesn’t really stop running, instead she runs into another bad friendship. One where the girl treats her like crap and Kate’s expected to just put up with it. Like the fat little blond girl that gets hit on the head in my dream. I feel sorry for her.
December 11, 2011
you know what sucks? when you're about 150 pages into a novel and you get that funky deja-vu-y sort of vibe about it. or, more specifically, when you've had that deja-vu vibe for 150 pages or so and then you realize you've read it before.
yeah, that old chestnut.
you know what's worse? when you remember actively making the decision to stop reading a book, but then, upon accidentally rereading it, realize you've gone past the point of no return and now you have no choice but to see how this badboy plays out.
sigh.
just so you know, i'm most likely going to spoil this one.
right, so Catalyst begins like most other laurie halse anderson novels - with a girl, angsty, and prone to teenaged histrionics. our heroine is kate, the preacher's daughter, a science nerd bent on getting into MIT. so bent that she's decided to ONLY apply to MIT.
apparently, the mathematical side of science is not the compelling part for kate; those odds are terrible.
anyways, kate hasn't heard and she's stressed - like half-crazed, running at night, insomnia stressed. she is overcompensating for losing her mother at a young age by trying to become her mother (who did go to and graduate from MIT). she views life as a series of chemical reactions and equations and monitors her little brother's cough as if he's one of her on-going lab experiments. her father, a man of god, seems like a foreign entity to her, a girl who has actively chosen to define her life in terms of the rational and explainable. and, predictably, she hasn't clued him into her plan of only applying to one school.
because that's totally healthy.
around this point, i'm thinking: huh? this whole book can't be all about how this girl didn't get into MIT and goes more crazy, right? because that would be kind of lame.
enter teri.
teri is a beefy senior girl who is sort of depicted as a cross between a lumberjack, a biker babe, and cletus the slack-jawed yokel. we learn her pathetic backstory: teri got really fat in 9th grade, then she got thin (or thinner, muscular, like a female boxer). now she beats up football players and steals watches. or something.
ok, so teri is important.
long story short, teri's house burns down and teri and her two-year-old brother come to stay at the preacher's house, as teri's mom has a weak heart and her father went to prison and died (maybe in that order?). can you see where this is going?
good.
teri and kate have what can best be described as a fond mutual loathing for one another. kate uses teri's tragedy to deflect her father's questioning about her post-high school career when she does, in fact, get rejected from MIT. kate also starts to tolerate teri by attaching herself to the adorable little brother mikey and working on rebuilding teri's charred home. things are looking up (we even get a nifty little glimpse of that melinda girl from that other laurie halse anderson book - she's still hangin' with mr. freeman, working on her art therapy, getting down with her good self, if anyone's curious).
then, we get halse andersoned.
mikey goes missing! terror sets in! people start searching desperately. and i remember why i stopped reading.
(REALLY BIG SPOILER)
mikey dies. he gets electrocuted. i think i was pregnant at the time i was reading this and that's why i put it down way back when. i wish i had remembered that.
the rest of the story is just...awkward. mikey isn't teri's brother; he's her son. and her criminal dad was the father. absolutely no surprises there, of course. what is truly uncomfortable is how the motherless kate and the childless teri leach onto one another on their individual paths of self-destruction.
with about twenty pages left, i was wondering how the hell we were going to sordino ourselves out of this janitor's closet of a mess.
it isn't pretty. and it isn't particularly satisfactory. there is no real closure, just promises made in moments of severe vulnerability.
sad, but lacking the sincerity of Speak.
yeah, that old chestnut.
you know what's worse? when you remember actively making the decision to stop reading a book, but then, upon accidentally rereading it, realize you've gone past the point of no return and now you have no choice but to see how this badboy plays out.
sigh.
just so you know, i'm most likely going to spoil this one.
right, so Catalyst begins like most other laurie halse anderson novels - with a girl, angsty, and prone to teenaged histrionics. our heroine is kate, the preacher's daughter, a science nerd bent on getting into MIT. so bent that she's decided to ONLY apply to MIT.
apparently, the mathematical side of science is not the compelling part for kate; those odds are terrible.
anyways, kate hasn't heard and she's stressed - like half-crazed, running at night, insomnia stressed. she is overcompensating for losing her mother at a young age by trying to become her mother (who did go to and graduate from MIT). she views life as a series of chemical reactions and equations and monitors her little brother's cough as if he's one of her on-going lab experiments. her father, a man of god, seems like a foreign entity to her, a girl who has actively chosen to define her life in terms of the rational and explainable. and, predictably, she hasn't clued him into her plan of only applying to one school.
because that's totally healthy.
around this point, i'm thinking: huh? this whole book can't be all about how this girl didn't get into MIT and goes more crazy, right? because that would be kind of lame.
enter teri.
teri is a beefy senior girl who is sort of depicted as a cross between a lumberjack, a biker babe, and cletus the slack-jawed yokel. we learn her pathetic backstory: teri got really fat in 9th grade, then she got thin (or thinner, muscular, like a female boxer). now she beats up football players and steals watches. or something.
ok, so teri is important.
long story short, teri's house burns down and teri and her two-year-old brother come to stay at the preacher's house, as teri's mom has a weak heart and her father went to prison and died (maybe in that order?). can you see where this is going?
good.
teri and kate have what can best be described as a fond mutual loathing for one another. kate uses teri's tragedy to deflect her father's questioning about her post-high school career when she does, in fact, get rejected from MIT. kate also starts to tolerate teri by attaching herself to the adorable little brother mikey and working on rebuilding teri's charred home. things are looking up (we even get a nifty little glimpse of that melinda girl from that other laurie halse anderson book - she's still hangin' with mr. freeman, working on her art therapy, getting down with her good self, if anyone's curious).
then, we get halse andersoned.
mikey goes missing! terror sets in! people start searching desperately. and i remember why i stopped reading.
(REALLY BIG SPOILER)
mikey dies. he gets electrocuted. i think i was pregnant at the time i was reading this and that's why i put it down way back when. i wish i had remembered that.
the rest of the story is just...awkward. mikey isn't teri's brother; he's her son. and her criminal dad was the father. absolutely no surprises there, of course. what is truly uncomfortable is how the motherless kate and the childless teri leach onto one another on their individual paths of self-destruction.
with about twenty pages left, i was wondering how the hell we were going to sordino ourselves out of this janitor's closet of a mess.
it isn't pretty. and it isn't particularly satisfactory. there is no real closure, just promises made in moments of severe vulnerability.
sad, but lacking the sincerity of Speak.
March 29, 2009
"Catalyst" is about Kate Malone, the somewhat typical straight-A acheiving cross-country running unsatisfied daughter of a preacher. At the beggining of the book the main conflict comes from the pressure she experiences while she waits to get accepted (or rejected) by MIT. Then, she runs into the ever so unfriendly neighbor girl Teri Litch. That really mixes up the plot, and the story.
While I enjoyed reading this book, it was no where close to as good as Laurie Halse Anderson's "Speak". One of the really good things about this book was the plot, but at some points the execution of the character's wasn't as powerful as I thought they should've been. I also thought the ending was a bit rushed, but it was still a pretty good read.
While I enjoyed reading this book, it was no where close to as good as Laurie Halse Anderson's "Speak". One of the really good things about this book was the plot, but at some points the execution of the character's wasn't as powerful as I thought they should've been. I also thought the ending was a bit rushed, but it was still a pretty good read.
February 11, 2023
This book honestly surprised me. I was reading it to preview for my students before teaching it. At the beginning, I was very disinterested. I just thought typical story about a high school girl with inner struggles. Once I hit the climax of the book, I was thoroughly heartbroken, engaged, and sympathetic towards the characters. I really enjoyed this quick read and am excited to see how my students will respond.
March 4, 2020
One of those books that really sticks with you. Something you'll keep thinking about long after the book is back on the shelf.
June 15, 2022
2.75⭐️
I didn’t enjoy reading this book very much.. but I pin-pointed some good dialogues and situations.. but overall it wasn’t my cup of tea (especially the ending😐)
I didn’t enjoy reading this book very much.. but I pin-pointed some good dialogues and situations.. but overall it wasn’t my cup of tea (especially the ending😐)
February 4, 2017
Catalyst by Laurie Halse Anderson is an entertaining and adventurous novel for teens and adults. This novel is focused on the life of Kate Malone, a High School Senior who is a straight A student, long distance runner, daughter of the local minister, and new girlfriend to Mitchell “Early Decision Harvard” Pangborn. Everything seemed to be looking up for Kate, she was excelling in school, she had a new boyfriend, there were no major troubles at home, until, one of her neighbor’s houses burned down.
This very house just so happened to be the house of Teri Litch. Lets just say that Teri and Kate aren’t the best of friends. Teri is the kind of person that takes things day by day and waits to see what happens. Kate on the other hand is a go getter and hard working type of person. Kate has also recently applied to MIT, her dream school. She was focused exclusively on getting into MIT. Now with Teri moving in it will be a lot harder for Kate to keep her life organized and on track. Another thing that is bugging Kate right now, is that she hasn’t told anyone this was the only school she applied to. Anderson does a great job in the novel developing suspense by using dramatic irony. An example of the use of dramatic irony in the novel is “Sara doesn’t understand why I’m so stressed. I should have told her. I should have told Mitch, too. Maybe even Dad.” (Page 12). This quote is talking about how she applied to only MIT and didn’t tell anyone else about not having a back up school. You can see that this is really bugging Kate but will she be able to hold in her emotions and feelings. Another example is “You know how you’re supposed to apply to five or ten or twenty of your top schools and then a couple of safeties just in case? Well, I sort of didn’t follow the rules. And I sort of neglected to tell anyone.” (Page 12). Anderson does a great job of using dramatic irony to build up the suspense of what will happen. The reader knows what Kate did but none of the characters in the book do. This novel makes you want to keep reading. I really enjoyed this book not just because Laurie Halse Anderson did a great job writing it, but I also liked the way it made you feel connected with the story and what was really going on.I recommend this book to anyone and I hope that they enjoy it as much as I did.
Catalyst by Laurie Halse Anderson is an entertaining and adventurous novel for teens and adults. You won’t want to stop reading this book. Does Kate ever make it to MIT or does she find something better along the way?
This very house just so happened to be the house of Teri Litch. Lets just say that Teri and Kate aren’t the best of friends. Teri is the kind of person that takes things day by day and waits to see what happens. Kate on the other hand is a go getter and hard working type of person. Kate has also recently applied to MIT, her dream school. She was focused exclusively on getting into MIT. Now with Teri moving in it will be a lot harder for Kate to keep her life organized and on track. Another thing that is bugging Kate right now, is that she hasn’t told anyone this was the only school she applied to. Anderson does a great job in the novel developing suspense by using dramatic irony. An example of the use of dramatic irony in the novel is “Sara doesn’t understand why I’m so stressed. I should have told her. I should have told Mitch, too. Maybe even Dad.” (Page 12). This quote is talking about how she applied to only MIT and didn’t tell anyone else about not having a back up school. You can see that this is really bugging Kate but will she be able to hold in her emotions and feelings. Another example is “You know how you’re supposed to apply to five or ten or twenty of your top schools and then a couple of safeties just in case? Well, I sort of didn’t follow the rules. And I sort of neglected to tell anyone.” (Page 12). Anderson does a great job of using dramatic irony to build up the suspense of what will happen. The reader knows what Kate did but none of the characters in the book do. This novel makes you want to keep reading. I really enjoyed this book not just because Laurie Halse Anderson did a great job writing it, but I also liked the way it made you feel connected with the story and what was really going on.I recommend this book to anyone and I hope that they enjoy it as much as I did.
Catalyst by Laurie Halse Anderson is an entertaining and adventurous novel for teens and adults. You won’t want to stop reading this book. Does Kate ever make it to MIT or does she find something better along the way?
February 2, 2021
3/5 stars bc it wasn't anything incredibly mind blowing for me, but i liked it a lot! very easy read and a little dated sounding (published in 2002 so that makes sense ig its been a while). def a twist that made the book much more entertaining but not sure I really get Kate's character.
July 5, 2017
A quick read and engaging story that disappointingly ended without warning. As this YA book trips along, it lets us see more and more of its primary characters, warming us up to even the most prickly ones. But just as it's getting really good, the characters becoming real and sympathetic, it's over. A solid so-so.
January 23, 2023
Preacher's daughter Kate Malone is smart, popular, and she has to get into MIT. It's the only school she applied to, and her dead mom is an alum. When she's not busy taking care of chores at home, including her father and younger brother, she runs track, works part time and she hangs out with her boyfriend and friends. Outcast Teri Litch couldn't be different. Both bullied and a bully, Teri is responsible for her baby brother's care and taking care of her brain damaged mother. When circumstances have both girls living under the same roof, can they call a truce or will tragedy cause both girls irreparable damage.
CATALYST, set in Merryweather High, the same school where Anderson's SPEAK takes place, addresses many important teen issues: school pressure, family dysfunction, bullying, popularity, anxiety, depression, and coming of age amid the expectations of self, parents and peers. Anderson has a way of capturing the minds of teens and creating imperfect, believable characters. Kate's voice is strong, vulnerable and realistic. While slower paced and less compelling than SPEAK, CATALYST is strong on it's own and an important read for teens.
CATALYST, set in Merryweather High, the same school where Anderson's SPEAK takes place, addresses many important teen issues: school pressure, family dysfunction, bullying, popularity, anxiety, depression, and coming of age amid the expectations of self, parents and peers. Anderson has a way of capturing the minds of teens and creating imperfect, believable characters. Kate's voice is strong, vulnerable and realistic. While slower paced and less compelling than SPEAK, CATALYST is strong on it's own and an important read for teens.
November 16, 2008
Laurie Halse Anderson has become one of my favorite authors!
Catalyst is about a girl named Kate Malone, the daughter of a preacher, and science whiz is school. Her dreams and aspirations revolve around her acceptance into MIT. The book takes the reader through Kate's trials as she waits for a letter, any letter, from MIT. Just as Kate gets into a groove a tragedy happens. Her neighbors house and barn are on fire! Her neighbors are the dreaded Litch family. Terri Litch is a large girl who is considered a bit of a bully. The football players tease her with caution because she is likely to fight back! Kate learns acceptance, tolerance, love, and friendship as she and Terri endure the worst of situations together. In order to not give away too much of the story, I'll leave you with this thought--you don't expect what happens to happen. It is really quite shocking.
I would recommend this book to secondary readers without a doubt. It is a book that could be taught in the classroom and excerpts would even be appropriate. Great book!
Catalyst is about a girl named Kate Malone, the daughter of a preacher, and science whiz is school. Her dreams and aspirations revolve around her acceptance into MIT. The book takes the reader through Kate's trials as she waits for a letter, any letter, from MIT. Just as Kate gets into a groove a tragedy happens. Her neighbors house and barn are on fire! Her neighbors are the dreaded Litch family. Terri Litch is a large girl who is considered a bit of a bully. The football players tease her with caution because she is likely to fight back! Kate learns acceptance, tolerance, love, and friendship as she and Terri endure the worst of situations together. In order to not give away too much of the story, I'll leave you with this thought--you don't expect what happens to happen. It is really quite shocking.
I would recommend this book to secondary readers without a doubt. It is a book that could be taught in the classroom and excerpts would even be appropriate. Great book!
September 10, 2016
This book was "okay" in the most okayest way possible. I read it in like 2 days and it was light and easy to read. I did enjoy reading, I guess, but I just didn't really care much about it. There were so many things happening but somehow I couldn't bring myself to care about it. I didn't like how LHA totally shifted halfway through the book. It was like a book about college acceptance and a book about a child's death mashed together with no real correlation. A lot of things happened that made me go "ok but why?" And finally I felt like there were too many things thrown in for shock factor like "ohh wait it's her son" "oh wait her dad is the father" and idk it just felt kind of cheap. OH WAIT What I just realized: What would have made this book so much better was if Teri had been the main character. Like if we had focused on her, her son, her house, her college acceptance. I think it would have made for a much deeper story and we would have understood more and honestly the plot twists would have been okay.
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