The Barnes & Noble Review
Laurie Halse Anderson, the novelist who penned the New York Times bestseller Speak and Fever 1793, grips us again with this solid, piercing book about a high school senior looking toward her future and the dramatic events that ground her to the present.
Kate Malone has only one focus -- getting into MIT. She's a chemistry whiz at school, and her heart is set on being accepted into the college of her dreams, but unfortunately, it's the only school she's applied for. When her minister dad comes to school to deliver "the letter," however, MIT's rejection is the spark that throws Kate's world into a tailspin. For starters, Teri Litch -- the school's senior tough-girl -- her mom, and her brother all wind up living at Kate's house after their house burns down. Teri has a tendency to swipe Kate's belongings, do only what she likes, and act like she's entitled to the run of the house. Kate begins to break through Teri's hard exterior over a house-rebuilding bonding moment, though, but when a horrendous and sudden turn of events brings their world to a standstill, the two oppositely charged girls must come together, finding a common understanding and taking stock of what's truly important.
If you liked Speak, you'll be completely enthralled with this powerful tour de force that's just as tense and gut-wrenching. The book's two main energies -- Kate and Teri -- interact with each other with prickly nervous uncertainty and frustration, and readers will pay thoughtful attention to the differences between these two characters' life-changing catalysts. A remarkable work for older teens that will sink deeply into their minds -- and which even includes a cameo appearance by Melinda from Speak -- Catalyst has the riveting formula to be another hit. Shana Taylor
Kirkus Reviews
Newton's law proclaims to every action there's always an equal reaction. For Kate Malone, life is a matter of scientific exactness, except that she is driven by her obsession to get into MIT. The conflict between running her life with the preciseness of scientific equations (calculations) and the religious beliefs and blessings of her minister father separates her into Good Kate and Bad Kate. When the rejection letter arrives (and she's forced to admit she didn't apply to any back-up schools), both Kates begin a meltdown; the catalyst is a destructive fire of a classmate's house and barn. Teri, the senior-class toughie and bruiser with whom nobody messes, and her two-year-old brother, come to stay at Kate's house while a corps of volunteers rebuilds theirs. An already combative relationship between the girls builds even as Teri throws herself into the renovation project. A terrible tragedy will shock readers as much as it threatens to unravel the progress folks have made. The first-person voice is gripping, with the reader feeling as though she's crouching inside Kate's head. Numbered like an outline, 2.3, 7.0, the chapters are labeled with scientific terms and safety tips that anticipate the introspective reactions. Intelligently written with multi-dimensional characters that replay in one's mind, this complex, contemporary story carries much of the intensity and harshness of Speak (2000). It confronts moral issues, religious conundrums, and the dynamics of emotions in young adult lives as two girls driven by the past and present realize their impact on the future. (Fiction. YA)
From the Publisher
"Intelligently written with multi-dimensional characters that replay in one's mind, this complex, contemporary story carries much of the intensity and harshness of Speak. It confronts moral issues, religious conundrums, and the dynamics of emotions in young adult lives as two girls driven by the past and present realize their impact on the future."—Kirkus Reviews
"Anderson is a gifted writer who makes the complex worlds of teenage girls real to the reader, from the competitiveness and casual cruelty of high school to the wisecracks between friends to the families struggling to connect. Anything by this author is well worth reading." —KLIATT
“Anderson’s take on human relations succeeds through her fresh writing and exceptional characterizations."—The Horn Book
