Catalyst

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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!!!




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Summary: Catalyst- diana lozano Bak msoa
Review: Laurie Halse Anderson is the well-known author of the award winning novel speak in which she caught the attention of young adult readers everywhere, she is also known by her similar novel Catalyst in which she surrounds the everyday life of a senior in highschool. These two novels yet incredibly similar have their own taste which makes them a pair of delightful reads.
Kate is a senior in highschool, the perfect kid, science fair winner, honor roll student and one of the most astounding runners in her school, not to mention she's the town's preachers daughter. As the daughter of a widower she finds herself taking care of her family, house and especially her little brother. Everyday Kate finds herself midnight running and yearning for the acceptance to the school of her dreams MIT, which has been her dream since the death of her mother.
Kate's tired self takes a break when her Harvard accepted boyfriend sweeps her from reality giving her the strength she needs to survive the battle between the school loving "Good Kate" and the troubled "Bad Kate" living deep inside her, chained yet yearning to escape.
Kate's dream is then shattered when MIT refuses her application leaving Kate in a deep depression accompanied with anger and confusion. Kate's life then quickly falls out of place when her neighbor's house burns down, and the two children move in with Kate's family. Kate's mind then races with mixed feelings and spirals out of her control.
Terri Litch, Kate's old middle school bully is now Kate's roommate, and as the hours, days and weeks pass Kate learns more about Terri's battle in life, at the same time learning a bit about herself. The plot in Catalyst is filled with emotional rollercoasters, from the heart-warming moments, to a violent, unexpected tragedy which keeps you glued to each page. This novel filled with coming of age experiences, taught how to value your insecurities, flaws and talents. Catalyst not only gives you its share of crying pages but it keeps you hypnotized in the genius plot filled with twists and turns.

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Summary: Same author of the book "Speak"
Review: Kate Malone's mom is dead and she has to take care of her family. When her neighbors house burns down the kids move in with them. The problem is the older kid is Teri Litch a troublemaker who smokes. When Kate's collage letter comes in from her favorite school is she rejected? As the Litch's start to rebuild, their house something terrible happens. When their calling Teri's cute, little brother Mikey's name, where is he and why isn't he coming? Will Kate lose it when she finds out what happened to Mikey? Read the book to find out! I really liked this book. If you are, a person who loves how stories twist right in the middle of the book you will love this book!

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Summary: Catalyst
Review: "I'm Kate Malone. I'm ranked third in the senior class. I'm National Honor Society, a peer counsler." It's no suprise that Kate Malone is so abnormal. Her mother died suddenly from pneumonia when Kate was youngerand her father is a minister. She is a high school senior and she has bet everything on getting into MIT; she didn't send applications to any other colleges or universities. She gets straight A's and is a total geek.She sees everything in terms of chemistry,which she studies in Advanced Placement classes. But life isn't ready for her expectations and she soon learns that MIT has rejected her. Things go from bad to worse when her life becomes connected with Teri Litch's. Teri goes to the same high school as Kate, but Teri has a horrible attitude, getting into fights at school, stealing Kate's watch. Teri's mom got hit in the head by her husband and since then she spends most of her time sitting in front of the TV. But when the Litch's home burns down. Teri and her brother Mikey live at the Malone's house because Kate's dad always wants to do the right thing. Kate can't believe her dad is so ignorant to Teri's faults and how bad an idea it is to invite the Litch's into their home. Teri is totally dissatisfied and just makes Kate's life dreadful. The only good thing is that young Mikey,a troublemaker,is adorable. But then there is a horrible accident, a tragedy that changes everyone's life. Eventually, Kate has to completely rethink her outlookand her reaction to Teri.
Main Characters are Mitchell Kate's boyfriend,an "Early Decision Harvard", very smart and a nice guy. Kate Malone a chemist geek, very smart and fast runner, also a ministers daughter. Teri is a tough girl who gets into a lot of fights, she seems really mean.
I would recommend this book to teenagers, because they could relate to Kate better then adults and younger kids.The genre of this book is coming of age. I would give this book an 8 out of 10 because it was a really good story to read and i could relat to Kate well.
Laurie Anderson does a good job of showing Kate's thoughts and feelings and keeps the book going at a fast pace. Kate his very smart and is easy to identify with. The Catalyst shows the idea of a transforming experience and how people can react in terrible grief, often provoked to remeber previous losses. This is a powerful story dealing with troubling emotions, and it's especially good at taking the frustration of interacting with self-defeating people.


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Summary: Analysis of Catalyst
Review: Catalyst by Laurie Halse Anderson is a truly phenomenal book about a girl who is trying to find out who she is and where she is to fit into the world. Kate Malone, a senior at Merryweather High School, seems to be a perfect little girl. She maintains a "crushing academic load," excels in track, wins national science fair awards and takes care of her dad and younger brother while still having time to work part time and rank 3rd in her class. She seems to have everything figured out about her future as well. She aspires to attend MIT in the fall and feels that she will get into the school with no problem. In fact, she is so sure that she only wants to go to MIT that it is the only application she fills out. Poor Kate didn't plan on Murphy's Law happening to her, however, and must rearrange her life around her neighbor's house being burned down. She now has to share her room with the school bully, Teri Litch, and her little brother. Just when things seem as though they can't get any worse, something happens that changes Kate's life forever. Filled with teen angst and high school drama, Catalyst keeps you riveted from cover to cover and makes sure that you can't put it down without feeling changed.
Anderson very obviously wrote this book to address teens and help them to see "how not to be." Anderson addresses the issues presented in Catalyst. "Today's high school students are turning into mini-middle-aged people complete with time stress, ulcers, lack of sleep, and confused values. Everyone marches along like lemmings!" Kids today are always looking for something or someone to whom they can relate. Anderson wrote the novel about teenagers for teenagers. "I hope that Catalyst will spark some discussions about what is really important in life, getting ahead or getting a life." Although Catalyst was not necessarily intended for adults, it can be a life lesson for everyone who reads it. It is important to not be bogged down with achieving. A person's sole purpose in life is to become what they are intended to be. Through the message presented in the novel, hopefully people will learn to quit running like Kate. Stop and simply rest, appreciate, and above all, live!
Kate is obsessed with chemistry, which is very ironic because knowledge of science is essential to life, but she very obviously has no clue about the importance of life itself. The book is written in the first person perspective, which helps the reader to see the inner-workings of Kate's mind- solely based on chemistry. Kate has an application for science in just about everything she does. Anderson makes these observations very obvious, but does it in a very original way, even in the presentation of the novel.
The format is very intriguing and original. Anderson titles the three parts of the book "Solid, Liquid, and Gas." These are the three forms of substances and the most basic and essential knowledge in chemistry. Thus Anderson is getting our attention and informing us in this way that the knowledge with which we are supposed to come away in the book are the most essential elements of life. She includes interesting little snippets from textbooks in these parts that make us feel as though we're cramming with Kate for a chemistry exam. She also formats the chapters in the novel. She titles the chapters to make them look like sections in a lab manual. These titles always have an application in that chapter of the book, such as chapter "1.0 Elemental" which describes Kate and her family and some of the problems Kate experiences, such as "workaholism," insomnia, and running at night. Anderson also includes at the beginning of every chapter a little "Safety Tip" with advice such as, "Never carry out unauthorized experiments." Many readers have said that it made them feel as though they were back in high school! In these unique ways, Anderson further exemplifies the irony that high schoolers, which should be enjoying themselves, put themselves under more stress than most adults!
Anderson uses Kate's habits and ideas to better emphasize the ideals of the novel. Kate is obsessed with chemistry because it is her way of controlling her surroundings. She loves feeling that she has everything the way it needs to be; taking action and fixing everything. This control proves many times to be an illusion. She even admits that she runs for this specific reason. "If I could run all the time, life would be fine. As long as I keep moving, I'm in control." While she's running, she can escape from her lack of control over things and she doesn't have to think about her life. Through the events of the novel, we learn that life-changing events cannot be stopped and all one can do is simply live. Finally, Kate learns this hard lesson.
Kate obviously has a long road behind her in the beginning of the novel. She has always strived to her top potential. In her eyes, achievement is all that matters. Catalyst follows Kate through her life, watches her grow up, and essentially watches her discover who she is. At the end of the novel, through Kate's decision on the last page, we see that she has indeed grown up. She has learned that grades, ranks and SAT scores really are not the most important things in life. In the end, she discovers, life is worth embracing; we are not intended to stress about things. Once she has reached the end of her life, the colleges she attends and the grades she makes in high school won't amount to anything. Anderson describes Kate's growing maturity flawlessly and gives the reader a message which will allow itself to be applied to the reader's own life, "Learn, grow, and live."


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Summary: Catalyst
Review: After reading "Speak" I really wanted to read anything else by her. She hasn't really written much, but she did write "Catalyst". It's about a girl named Kate. She pratically LIVES just to get into ONE college. When she's rejected her whole life, her whole plan just kind of crumbles. Kate is a runner and she uses running to escape her troubles. Everyone seems to have something they do to get rid of stress or just to forget something, anything. For me it's writing or painting. For Kate, it's running. So whenever something wrong happened, she'd take a long run. A lot of problems rise in Kate's life and the book is basically how she deals with all of it. This is a very good book, but I did like "Speak" better.

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Summary: This Book Was Great!!!!!!
Review: Before I read "Catalyst" I read "Speak" and absolutely loved it. I think because I could relate to it so well and enjoyed it so much, I expected "Catalyst" to be the same. Though I didn't enjoy "Catalyst" as much as I had hoped, it was still a really great book. I think a lot of teenagers will be able to relate to the character of Kate and the issues that she deals with in her life. This book presents unique characters and different sorts of relationships between people. It's a good read and even if you don't love it, you'll still get something out of it.

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Summary: Another great one
Review: After reading SPEAK, I knew I had to try everything else from this author. She didn't disappoint me. Kate Malone, is a midnight-running, type A preacher's daughter who just happens to be an atheist. Sort of. Her real religion is comprised of Advanced Placement scores, bunsen burners, and her deferred application to MIT, the school where her late mother went.

Kate has invested everything into doing the right things and getting the right results. (Except for the making out with her boyfriend Mitch Pingborn, a future history professor who she's battled for the best class ranking since sixth grade. He got into Harvard on early decision). In the background of her life of ironing her father's pants, checking her brother's ashmatic snores for peak flow and maintaining her size 4 figure by running cross-country in the freezing winter, there is Teri Litch, the bully girl who peed her pants in fifth grade and sat in it and is strong enough to beat up most of the football team, though it doesn't stop them from teasing her.

Just as Kate's life falls apart, Teri's life crashes into Kate's in a tragic and unexpected way, exploding with secrets and a kind of pain unknown to a middle class minister's daughter. Or is it? In Kate's quest to balance the equation of her existence, she discovers that the catalyst for who she will become might be closer to home than she thinks.