catalyst

catalyst

YA novel
When I read the impossible knife of memory I became a big time
Laurie Halse Anderson fan. I looked for any of her previous books in
the library and was pleased and excited to find Catalyst. YOWZA! The
woman is one of the best ever at creating credible realms of
experience and people the reader can really care about.
Kate Malone, its narrator, would seem outwardly to have it all
together. She's an honor student and major academic prize winner.
She runs long distance for her school. She has a great boyfriend.
Everything in her life seems as organized as the chemistry she adores.
There is, however, a lot more to her than would meet the eye.
Her minister father is highly involved with his congregation, not so
much with his family. Kate runs the household, having charge of
managing her younger brother's chronic illness as well as the chores.
Colleges are sending out acceptance and rejection letters. She's only
applied to MIT, a college that can cherry pick from the nation's high
schools' best and brightest.
Rather than something to be envied, Kate's life is like a Jenga
game. You know-- the stack of blocks where you take turns trying to
remove one without causing the whole pile to collapse. And it's about
to change in a very drastic way. When a family is burned out of their
home her father takes in their children. Now she's sharing her room
with a girl who seems to be her polar opposite in every way and her
very little brother.
While that all important letter sealing her fate will be
arriving any day.
On a personal note, I want to wish all my readers who celebrate it a
very Happy Easter.
A great big shout out goes out to high school kids who have to accept
far too much responsibility.
Julia Emily Hathaway



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