Catalyst -- A review by Ian Zig.

Catalyst
by Laurie Halse Anderson
*

The Catalyst is about a regular "plain-jane" girl who excells in chemistry and relies way too much on her original plan. Kate is a bright daughter of a minister, with extremely high hopes for going to MIT. MIT is her dream, it is her goal, it is her life. The problem is, she has absolutely no fall back plan. Good Kate, against all logic and reason, has only applied to MIT. But as she waits expectantly for the acceptance letter of her dreams, her life refuses to hold its breath as well. Her neighbor's house suddenly burns down, and her father being a good friendly pastor and neighbor, invites "miss" Teri Litch and her younger brother to stay with them. Teri Litch is pretty much a brute of a woman. Teri is always getting into fights with the football team at school. Not only that, to Kate's displeasure, but Teri is also a compulsive thief. Kate, who already was the woman of the house taking care of her little brother, now has quite a handfull.

The Catalyst started out perfectly, it really drew me in and grabbed my interest immediately. Unfortunately after a few chapters, it quickly ran downhill. I thought it wasn't at all realistic. Kate's made out to be such a smart girl with a bright future ahead of her, except for the fact that anyone with half a brain would apply to several colleges and have a fall back plan. That is the main reason I gave this book only one star. I felt that Kate's inability to sleep was horribly pathetic, sleep is something that comes naturally and if you really can't sleep you tell your parents or go get something to help you sleep. All in all, I definitely would not recommend you read this book, just because of how disappointing the story becomes.