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Catalyst Laurie Halse Anderson Books

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Catalyst Laurie Halse Anderson Books

Preacher's daughter Kate Malone is smart, popular, and she has to get into MIT. It's the only school she applied to, and hear 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.


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Catalyst Laurie Halse Anderson Books Reviews

Laurie Halse Anderson is a wonderful author and really resonates with young girls. I have used her novels in advanced lit classes and always, always find something within the characters that makes a good platform for discussion and writing.
I love LHA's ability to bring to life the intensity of real teenagers caught in impossible situations that are all too real, and not nearly uncommon enough. The characters are as real as family, and the tension winches higher and higher until I almost couldn't bear to find out what Kate would do what the catalyst finally propelled her from the frozen present into the unknown future.
This is one of my favorite books. It's by my favorite author. I liked it, so much that I bought this copy for a white elephant book exchange.
Catalyst is not a perfect book. No book is. That said, it kept me spellbound into all hours of the night, because I just had to know what happened to Kate and Terri. I somewhat agree with the reader that said the novel follows a progression from a self-centered Kate to a less self-centered Kate, EXCEPT that I see Kate as more self-protective than self-centered. Don't any of you adults out there remember what it was like to be a teenager? When you felt like your entire life was out of your control and hung by the thread of other people's decisions? As a chronic overachiever who struggles with performance anxiety, I could relate A LOT to Kate.

There were times that I thought she should have felt a little guiltier about focusing on the MIT rejection instead of on Terri, BUT then again, Terri's situation was so horrifying it would be difficult for someone as young as Kate to process. In fact, that was one of my few gripes with the book--that what happens to Terri seems a bit over the top. Yes, there are people out there with even worse stories, but I wondered if there was any way to simplify the plot line to include just one or two of those events. But that still didn't take away from the overall power of the book for me, and I wound up by the end liking both Terri and Kate very much.

And as for the reviewer who said she was appalled at the choice of this for a summer reading list, well, I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, yes, this deals with some very taboo subjects that parents may not want their children exposed to. But I think it really depends on the age of the child. Would I want my fourteen year old to read this? Perhaps not. My sixteen or seventeen year old? Most likely. Ultimately, though, I am glad books like this exist. Wouldn't you rather your teenager navigate the waters of difficult subjects through a sensitive, well-written book like this than through watching any number of television shows or YouTube videos? This stuff is out there. People do struggle with issues like this. At some point, your child WILL be exposed to these subjects, whether or not they are in a public school. By the time most teens read a book like this, there's a good chance they will have ALREADY encountered them.
This book is epic; the writing is superb. It is phenomenal read for any genera do not let the YA label fool you. MIT should be a must read for everyone who loves realistic fiction. It is a true crossover and I could not put it down. It was a one sitting less than two hour page turner. Okay, I do lie, I put it down about 65% in to write hateful things to the author; bit alas I picked it right up again and didn't stop to even pee!
I really enjoyed this book. I had read the book "Speak" by this same author and really liked it, and decided to give this one a try also. The story is well written and you feel you "get to know" the characters. I would love to see a sequel, to see where the characters (at least the man ones) lives go from the ending of this novel.
I can imagine how irritating it must be for the author to hear that but I will say it anyway - it wasn't as good as "Speak". Catalyst had a good start with the main character. Kate's life style, family and inner dialog intrigued and sucked me into the story. But towards the middle I lost the grip of the story. At the end I didn't care at all. I don't know why, I don't have a recipe on how to fix it, but something was missing for me.
Preacher's daughter Kate Malone is smart, popular, and she has to get into MIT. It's the only school she applied to, and hear 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.