| Catalyst | |
|---|---|
First edition cover |
|
| Author(s) | Laurie Halse Anderson |
| Original title | [] |
| Cover artist | Michael Morgenstern |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Young adult novel |
| Publisher | Viking Press |
| Publication date | September 2002 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover & Paperback) |
| Pages | 233 pp (first edition, hardback) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0670035661 (first edition, hardback) |
| OCLC Number | 49821813 |
| LC Classification | PZ7.A54385 Cat 2002 |
| Preceded by | Speak |
Catalyst is a 2002 novel by Laurie Halse Anderson about a senior named Kate Malone. It can be regarded as a sequel to Speak, as it has the same setting in Merryweather High School and a cameo appearance by Melinda Sordino (the protagonist in Speak), and it takes place a year after the events in Speak. Teenreads.com put Catalyst on its Ultimate Teen Reading List.[1]
Contents |
Kate Malone, a Preacher's daughter and high school student who is excellent in chemistry and aspires to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, faces multiple tragic situations ranging from rejection by MIT to the fire of her neighbor Teri Litch at the end of her senior year. All of these become catalysts propelling self-centered, arrogant Kate to change. Throughout the novel Anderson makes extensive references to the periodic table of elements.
Kate Malone: The protagonist, an academically stellar senior and star track athlete. Her father is a minister and her mother, Colleen Malone is deceased.
Mitchell A. Pangborn III: Kate's boyfriend. He received an early admission to Harvard, his top college.
Teri Litch: Antithesis of Kate Malone, a lonely kleptomaniac who is born into a poverty-stricken dysfunctional family but is also a good mechanic.
Mikey Litch: Teri's two-year-old brother. His true parentage comes as a bit of a surprise later on in the novel.
Mrs. Litch: Teri's mother. She appears to be somewhat scatterbrained. She was hit in the head by her husband, leaving her a little mentally unstable.
Mr. Malone: Kate's father, a good-hearted minister. When the Litches' house was destroyed in a mysterious fire, he offered to let Teri and Mikey move in with his family—much to Kate's chagrin.
Toby Malone: Kate's fourteen-year-old brother.
Betty: An eccentric old woman, neighbor to the Litches and Malones. She claims she can see Jesus in her television set. Teri's mother moves in with her after the fire.
Sara: Kate's best friend.
Travis: Sara's boyfriend.
Amanda Cummings: Kate's young chemistry teacher and mentor.
The Book Report's Roberta O'Hara liked Kate's inner struggles, describing them as "realistic".[2]