Catalyst

Rating:
Summary: Satisying, though fell short of my expectations
Review: Kate Malone, chemistry geek, reverend's daughter, and one of the top students in the senior class, is nearing the end of her high school career at Merryweather High. The only thing she wishes for is to receive the acceptance letter from MIT, the college her dead mother attended and the only college she applied to. When the letter, a rejection, arrives, her life is turned upside down and Kate is faced with one conflict after another.

Though I found "Catalyst" to be a satisfying read, I would have expected better from this author, writer of the remarkable "Speak", one of my favorite books. "Catalyst" was simply not as gripping as I found "Speak" to be, and, at times, seemed as though it served as an advertisement for "Speak". However, this book was still extraordinaly written, and used the same suspenseful and humorous tone only Laurie Halse Anderson possesses.

Rating:
Summary: A book about REAL teenagers? Couldn't be.
Review: As a sixteen-year-old, I can appreciate Laurie Halse Anderson's writing for its honest and unabashed portrayal of adolescence. In Catalyst and Speak, Anderson recognizes the fact that high school is not necessarily the "best years of our lives" filled with fun, friendships, and happy endings. In fact, Catalyst, while not overdramatic, focuses on many of the unhappy events in the protagonist's life, many of which will impact her future as well. And the book's ending, while relatively satisfying yet abrupt, is not at all reminiscent of the conclusion found in most young adult books.

The main character Kate is like many high school "geeks" - she has a good GPA, takes advanced classes, and is on the school track team. She has a boyfriend and a close group of friends, but her life is thrown into tumult when one of her "enemies" moves into her house after a fire. The book focuses on Kate's grappling with the fact that she is not accepted into the one college to which she applied, MIT. Anderson's genius lies, however, not in plot but in character development. Avoiding stereotypes and overdramatization of relationships serves the book well and lays a foundation to which all types of readers can identify.

If you are looking for an easy read that is not wrought with petty boyfriend-girlfriend relationships and high school dramas largely focused on prom and getting your first kiss, I would recommend this book to you. It held my attention the entire time I was reading it.

And for those of you who are fans of Speak, this book contains cameos by a few of the characters.

Rating:
Summary: Another Excellent Book From Laurie Halse Anderson
Review: Meet Kate Malone - Straight A science and math geek, minister's daughter, ace long-distance runner, girlfriend (to Mitchell "Early Decision Harvard" Pangborn III), unwilling family caretaker, emotional avodiance champion. This is a darkly humorous story, similar to Laurie Halse Anderson's book "Speak", and it puts in details about Kate Malone's, the main character of the story, emotions about being rejected to the only 4-year college she applied for, MIT. It also puts in depth the feelings and struggles that Kate goes through when Teri Litch and her family moves into her house. This is an entertaining book that you just can't put down, but it can't quite compare to "Speak", Ms. Anderson's last book. "Catalyst" is a book that is good enough to be rated 4 stars for the entertainment value, but I noticed that the details going on inside of the main character's head faded out slightly torward the middle of the book. Besides that, this book is a must-read for teens 13 and older.

Rating:
Summary: A great book!
Review: I really enjoyed Catalyst, and I don't think it's fair to compare the book to Speak--they are two completely different titles. With Catalyst, like Speak, I was moved to tears a few times, and I think this book is definitely worth reading. Anybody who's ever worried about college will identify with Kate, as will anybody who's ever had a weird family. Keep up the good work, Ms. Anderson!

Rating:
Summary: WONDERFUL book
Review: Yet again Laurie Halse Anderson writes ANOTHER great book! Like the book Speak (my favorite book of all time) its about a teenage girl and her struggles in life! This is a REALLY good book and i think everyone should read it! Although its sad at times its a wonderful book! PLEASE read it

Rating:
Summary: Richie's Picks: CATALYST
Review: ... ...

But, getting back to Laurie Halse Anderson and to Merryweather High, the setting for SPEAK, and now for CATALYST... What? Yes, indeed, Laurie returns us to the land of the infamous Mr. Neck, and Hairwoman, and Andy the Beast--none of whom we get to see here. The story is set at the end of the school year following SPEAK, and Melinda, in another of Mr. Free-man's classes, does actually make a cameo appearance. So, knowing all of this ahead of time, you are possibly going to open this book and look for it to grab you by the throat and mystify you the way you were immediately mystified by Melinda Sorrentino's treatment on the bus and in the auditorium on her first day at the school.

Right?

Well, get over it! This is a whole different chemical equation:

Kate Malone, minister's daughter, star student, and runner, is a senior who lives for her acceptance letter to MIT--the only college she has bothered to apply to.

"Insomnia rocks, actually. You can get a lot done if you don't sleep. I've turned into a hyper-efficient windup Kate doll, super Kate, the über-Kate. I wish this had happened last year. It would have given me more time to study for my AP exams."

She introduces us to her family:

"Toby and I are the proton and neutron of our atomic family unit. Dad is the loosely bonded electron, negatively charged, zooming around us in his own little shell."

She introduces us to her group of friends:

"Sara slides her sunglasses across the table. I take off my glasses and put them on. The room mellows to a golden, SFP-protected glow...They are all out of focus now, but...I'd recognize these shapes anywhere. Sara Emery, my BF, is a self-described Wiccan Jewish poet. This would send most parents screaming to the therapist's office, but the Emerys are totally cool with it. I've been asking them to adopt me for years.
Travis Baird is to Sara as water is to fire: opposite and necessary. Trav is a freakazoid good guy with a taste for body art. The vice principal in charge of discipline has been aching to bust him for four years. He refuses to believe that good things can come in colorful packages.
A warm hand snakes around my waist. My knees buckle and the hand pulls me down into the very familiar lap of Mitchell A. Pangborn III--my friend, my enemy, my lust."

She introduces us to the story's outcast, a tough female named Teri Litch:

"The ugly girl, the one who smells funny, studies carpentry at vo-tech, stomps around with sawdust in her hair, and has fists like sledgehammers. Teri beat me up every year in elementary school, fall and spring. I turned the other cheek for a while, then I learned to run. Intelligent life pursues self-preservation."

And she introduces us to her "sad excuse of a motor vehicle, a Yugo named Burt."

But who or what is the catalyst here is one of the things you're going to have to read the book to find out.

...

CATALYST, which alternately had me crying and laughing, is a moving story that seeks to knock us off our little career tracks long enough to see what's really important. Laurie Halse Anderson has once again crafted an unforgettable young adult novel filled with literary brilliance. This CATALYST sure got one [heck] reaction out of me! ...

Rating:
Summary: Powerful, but not another "Speak"....I'd say 3.5 stars
Review: I loved "Speak" (if you haven't read it, get it now!) because it was so funny and dark and made me feel like Melinda was right there talking to me and me only. It had this intimacy that just makes a book so powerful. "Catalyst" lacks this intimacy, partially because it includes much more dialogue. Which is OK. Just don't expect quite the same style. I found the scientific term symbolism a bit sledgehammered, but maybe that's only because I'm taking chem now and I'm sick of it.
The book moves so fast, I just kept wanting it to stop for a minute. I kind of like this. It made me feel like I was running to catch up with Kate. I predict this book won't be as big as Speak. For one thing, it has less sex and it's not as funny, important factors for most my age. I loved the ending, which is a big vague. I like vague endings; a lot of people don't.
Catalyst is a powerful work, but it just wasn't as strong as Speak. It's still awesome, however.

Rating:
Summary: Catalyst doesn't SPEAK to me
Review: Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson is my favorite book. Imagine my surprise when I found her newest book, Catalyst at the book store. And then the book is set at the same exact highschool as speak, with a cameo of Melinda. This is where the book goes wrong. This book is no speak.
Had this ground breaking book not come before Catalyst, I may have liked Catalyst better. This book is like a hard working girl who does everything she can to find something she is best at, but is always overshadowed by her older sister.
But lets not leave catalyst out of the running. It just has so much to live up to. Enough of my blather...
Kate is that girl who is always at the top of her class. She has a caring boyfriend, supportive friends, her father is the family oriented reverend, but nothing really matters to her but getting into MIT, the school of her dreams...
This is a good book, just not my favorite.

Rating:
Summary: As Great As Speak
Review: I didn't think it was possible, but this book is just as great as one of my favorite books of all time (the book in the same series as this one), Speak. I recommend everyone who has read Speak to read this book.

Rating:
Summary: Catalyst
Review: In Catalyst, Laurie Halse Anderson paints a beautiful portrait of a hard working teenager that cares about other people's problems, sometimes too much. Kate Malone is a stressed out minister's daughter, mainly because she only applied to one college, MIT, and she hasn't received a letter about it yet. But then, Kate gets the letter from MIT and she wasn't accepted. She keeps thinking of excuses of why she didn't get accepted and how to get in and keeps telling herself that the admissions office made a mistake. She barely has time for her friends and her boyfriend, who got accepted into Harvard early.

Meanwhile, her neighbor, which happens to be her enemy's house, catches on fire so her father lets them move in with the Malones. Neither Kate nor her brother Toby are exactly thrilled but being the minister's children, it was the rightful thing to do. The church is helping rebuild the neighbors' house and Kate has to take care of Teri (her enemy) and her little adorable brother Mikey. After the house is almost restored and they are celebrating with pizza, Teri realizes Mikey is nowhere to be found. Something happens to Mikey...

If you like books about real-life things and what one wrong turn could do, I would recommend this book. Along with Laurie Halse Anderson's "Speak", this is a book told in the first person. Seeing through someone else's eyes could really help the way you see everything. With a blend of humor, suspense, and a sad tragedy, this book deals with the true things in life and how to cope. Read it!!!