Catalyst

Anderson, Laurie. Catalyst. New York: Penguin Group, 2002.

Laurie Anderson wrote one of my all-time favorite young adult novels, Speak.  I was very excited to find Catalyst, another novel set in the same town and with some of the same characters as Speak.

Kate is a straight-A student, a science whiz, an athiest, and a preacher's kid.  She takes care of her house, her dad, and her brother while carefully managing her personal life as well.  All of this falls apart when she finds out that she has not been accepted to MIT, the only school she applied to, and that her least-favorite classmate will be moving into her house and sharing her bedroom.  Kate has to wrestle with a world spinning out of control and learns to be more compassionate to those whose lives are constantly spinning.

I liked this story.  I like Speak better, but this was a good story as well, and it was a quick read.  It's definitely worth checking out of the library.