Meet Kate Malone-straight-A science and math geek, minister's daughter, ace long-distance runner, new girlfriend (to Mitchell "Early Decision Harva...
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Jul 17, 2011
karen
rated it: 
shrug.
it's fine.
is laurie halse anderson the jodi picoult of the YA set? is this a fair assessment?? jodi picoult's schtick is to just take whatever makes the headlines and structure a book around it. anderson's seems to be to take a teen problem and structure a book around it. (this is excluding her historical stuff, which i liked a lot more than any of the three contemporary problem novels i have read) and it's probably a great thing that she does this - there are so m More...
it's fine.
is laurie halse anderson the jodi picoult of the YA set? is this a fair assessment?? jodi picoult's schtick is to just take whatever makes the headlines and structure a book around it. anderson's seems to be to take a teen problem and structure a book around it. (this is excluding her historical stuff, which i liked a lot more than any of the three contemporary problem novels i have read) and it's probably a great thing that she does this - there are so m More...
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Dec 01, 2007
Daniel
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6 comments
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(10 people liked it)
Dec 17, 2009
Emma
rated it:
Catalyst by Laurie Halse Anderson is a sequel/companion to Speak. It's set one year after the events of Speak. This novel is narrated by Kate Malone: straight-A senior, science and math whiz, and daughter of the local reverend. Kate's also a great runner, which is good because Kate's been running from a lot of things:
Kate has been the family caretaker since her mother died. She hasn't been sleeping as she waits to hear from her dream college (she runs instead). And now Teri Litch, Ka More...
Kate has been the family caretaker since her mother died. She hasn't been sleeping as she waits to hear from her dream college (she runs instead). And now Teri Litch, Ka More...
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Jan 30, 2010
Ms. Green
rated it: 
Even though I was exhausted, I stayed up until 1:00 AM reading Catalyst. I was all ready to put the book down, then something happened, and there was no way I could stop reading until the end.
Catalyst tells the story of Kate, a senior chemistry geek, who is determined to attend M.I.T. She is so fixated on going to the school of her deceased mother that she applied no where else and did not tell anyone. At the outset of the book, Kate is desperately waiting for a letter from the prest More...
Catalyst tells the story of Kate, a senior chemistry geek, who is determined to attend M.I.T. She is so fixated on going to the school of her deceased mother that she applied no where else and did not tell anyone. At the outset of the book, Kate is desperately waiting for a letter from the prest More...
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Jan 16, 2009
R.j.
rated it: 
This book is a work of terrible genius, but I can't go into too much detail because it will break me. Suffice it to say that it's brilliant and that it completely blindsided me and wrecked me emotionally in a way that no other book I've read has ever done.
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Nov 16, 2008
Laurie
rated it:
Laurie Halse Anderson has become one of my favorite authors!
Catalyst is about a girl named Kate Malone, the daughter of a preacher, and science whiz is school. Her dreams and aspirations revolve around her acceptance into MIT. The book takes the reader through Kate's trials as she waits for a letter, any letter, from MIT. Just as Kate gets into a groove a tragedy happens. Her neighbors house and barn are on fire! Her neighbors are the dreaded Litch family. Terri Litch is a large girl More...
Catalyst is about a girl named Kate Malone, the daughter of a preacher, and science whiz is school. Her dreams and aspirations revolve around her acceptance into MIT. The book takes the reader through Kate's trials as she waits for a letter, any letter, from MIT. Just as Kate gets into a groove a tragedy happens. Her neighbors house and barn are on fire! Her neighbors are the dreaded Litch family. Terri Litch is a large girl More...
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Jul 22, 2009
Tatiana
rated it:
This is another emotional story written by Laurie Halse Anderson. "Catalyst" is a novel about Kate - high school senior who thinks she has all her life planned out and under control. She is a perfectionist and does everything to make sure her life doesn't steer away from her plan. Some might think that Kate is self-centered and almost obsessive, but in reality she uses this orderliness to shield herself from the deep pain caused by her mother's death. After a series of events, some cat
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3 comments
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(2 people liked it)
Mar 26, 2009
Madelyne
rated it:
The book is set during the last few months of the school year and Kate, a senior, is anxiously awaiting to hear whether she has been accepted to college. Kate Malone is not a typical teen. She is ranked 3rd in her class, she is a member of the National Honor Society and is on the cross-country track team. Kate also takes care of her 14 year old brother, Toby, who is asthmatic and runs most of the household. Kate’s mom died of a sudden illness when Kate was only in 4th grade. Her dad is a mini
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Feb 06, 2009
Megan
rated it:
{Catalyst* is missing a huge part of what could have made up a good book for me. The main character, Kate, is an ambitious over-achiever science geek with plans of getting into MIT, but her hopes are dashed when she is rejected from her dream school - and it happens to be the only college she applied to. Meanwhile the rest of her life is going crazy as her neighbor's house burns down and the messed up family - including a really rough and tumble girl Kate doesn't get along with very well - move
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(2 people liked it)
Jan 16, 2012
Alicia
rated it:
Kate is pushing herself to the limits as she prepares for graduation and as she waits anxiously for her response from MIT, the only school she applied to. She takes care of everything around the house, studies as much as possible, and goes on intense runs after midnight because she can't sleep. She just wants to concentrate on herself and be done with everyone else's problems but her neighbor's house tragically burns down and they move into her house. Suddenly Kate must deal with the new housema
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Jan 14, 2012
Josh
rated it:
MAIN AUTHORS CATEGORY
While it may not be the strongest of her novels, Catalyst proves to be a good outing nonetheless. It is told in the first person perspective of girl named Kate Malone who is a senior in high school. She is determined to make it into MIT, the college of her dreams. But when her application is rejected, her life starts to fall apart in more ways than one. Not only does she have to deal with searching for another school she has no interest in, but the school outcast, Teri More...
While it may not be the strongest of her novels, Catalyst proves to be a good outing nonetheless. It is told in the first person perspective of girl named Kate Malone who is a senior in high school. She is determined to make it into MIT, the college of her dreams. But when her application is rejected, her life starts to fall apart in more ways than one. Not only does she have to deal with searching for another school she has no interest in, but the school outcast, Teri More...
Dec 10, 2011
Lauren
rated it:
you know what sucks? when you're about 150 pages into a novel and you get that funky deja-vu-y sort of vibe about it. or, more specifically, when you've had that deja-vu vibe for 150 pages or so and then you realize you've read it before.
yeah, that old chestnut.
you know what's worse? when you remember actively making the decision to stop reading a book, but then, upon accidentally rereading it, realize you've gone past the point of no return and now you have no choice but More...
yeah, that old chestnut.
you know what's worse? when you remember actively making the decision to stop reading a book, but then, upon accidentally rereading it, realize you've gone past the point of no return and now you have no choice but More...
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Dec 08, 2011
Sonia
rated it:
Ho avuto la fortuna di leggere, prima di questo, altri due romanzi di Laurie Halse Anderson: Speak e Wintergirls. L’autrice mi aveva colpita dandomi qualche pugno allo stomaco, con quei due romanzi.
Non si era limitata a raccontare qualche storiella leggera e piacevole per adolescenti, ma era andata dritta al cuore di problemi forti, problemi che scuotono e che distruggono spesso vite, famiglie, rapporti. Ritorna con questo romanzo, Le emozioni difettose, confermando il suo interesse per que More...
Non si era limitata a raccontare qualche storiella leggera e piacevole per adolescenti, ma era andata dritta al cuore di problemi forti, problemi che scuotono e che distruggono spesso vite, famiglie, rapporti. Ritorna con questo romanzo, Le emozioni difettose, confermando il suo interesse per que More...
Nov 27, 2011
Rachel
rated it:
I really enjoyed this book. I liked how the main character Kate changes the mood a lot throughout the whole book. I really felt like we were going through the struggles with her, very much like we were in her head. I liked how we really growing up with her, going through that awkward and hard age of going from a teenager to a young adult. Like how she had to room with the person she practically hated most in the world but was able to eventually accept it.
I also really liked how she had More...
I also really liked how she had More...
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Nov 12, 2011
MaryG90
rated it:
Le emozioni possono essere realmente difettose? Esistono emozioni giuste ed emozioni sbagliate? Certamente la nostra protagonista, Kate Malone, è un'esperta di emozioni. La sua lotta quotidiana con la vita è un condensato esplosivo di ossessione, rabbia, sfiducia, speranza e desiderio di annullamento. Emozioni contrastanti che convivono in ognuno di noi e che Laurie Halse Anderson analizza magistralmente.
Kate non è una ragazza come tutte le altre, sa esattamente cosa vuole dalla vita More...
Kate non è una ragazza come tutte le altre, sa esattamente cosa vuole dalla vita More...
Nov 09, 2011
Franci
rated it:
Kate Malone è la figlia del reverendo del paese: studentessa modello (ha ottimi voti);figlia modello (si occupa del padre e del fratello); comportamento modello..."la perfezione",che però rischia di farla scoppiare.
In suo aiuto arriva la corsa.
Kate corre...corre per non pensare ai suoi problemi,a sua madre morta per una polmonite,ma soprattutto corre per non pensare alla lettera d'ammissione al Mit che ancora tarda ad arrivare.
Kate usa la corsa per trasformare un dolo More...
In suo aiuto arriva la corsa.
Kate corre...corre per non pensare ai suoi problemi,a sua madre morta per una polmonite,ma soprattutto corre per non pensare alla lettera d'ammissione al Mit che ancora tarda ad arrivare.
Kate usa la corsa per trasformare un dolo More...
Nov 09, 2011
Eccentrika
rated it:
Partiamo dalla premessa che "Le emozioni difettose" è un romanzo assolutamente autoconclusivo, che si può tranquillamente affrontare senza aver precedentemente letto gli altri romanzi dell'autrice. Però a mio avviso, se avete già letto "Speak. Le parole non dette" riuscirete a trovare un legame affettivo con il romanzo ancora maggiore, perché "Le emozioni difettose" è ambientato nello stesso liceo di "Speak" (la Merryweather High School, a Syracuse, nello
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Oct 21, 2011
Blake16
rated it:
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Sep 28, 2011
Alyssa
rated it:
Catalyst is a fictional novel about graduating senior Kate who finds herself in trouble because she only applied to one university. Kate also finds herself forced to help another girl in the school, Teri, who she does not get along with. In the process Kate learns about herself and those around her. When I first started reading this book I really did not like Kate as the narrator. I felt like she was annoying and selfish. As I read more, though, I began to realize that the point was to have
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Sep 17, 2011
Jodi
rated it:
Laurie Halse Anderson takes us back to the high school from Speak but in a totally different way. The main character of this book is not a reclusive victim, but rather a highly functioning high school senior with goals of MIT and visions of chemistry world domination in her mind. But once you dig a little deeper, however, you see that not all is right with the world. She lives in a dysfunctional home with her widower minister father, she lost her mother to pneumonia, her asthmatic slob of a y
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Sep 17, 2011
Angela
rated it:
Last night I dreamed that I was sitting in a gathering of people, waiting for my turn to get up and play my violin. There was a tall guy with dark hair speaking to the crowd, and a little fat blond girl sitting across the aisle from me who the tall guy called an idiot. This struck me wrong, so I told him to stop. Not just because he’d called the girl an idiot, but because he’d yelled it, said it in a mean and condescending way. Instead of listening, though, he slapped the girl on the head.
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Sep 17, 2011
Angela
rated it:
Last night I dreamed that I was sitting in a gathering of people, waiting for my turn to get up and play my violin. There was a tall guy with dark hair speaking to the crowd, and a little fat blond girl sitting across the aisle from me who the tall guy called an idiot. This struck me wrong, so I told him to stop. Not just because he’d called the girl an idiot, but because he’d yelled it, said it in a mean and condescending way. Instead of listening, though, he slapped the girl on the head.
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Aug 15, 2011
Corinne
rated it:
Kate's life with her dad and brother is handled with precision. Good Kate takes care, she studies like crazy, she makes sure everyone has what they need. As soon as she just gets her acceptance letter from MIT, her life will be as orderly and perfect at the periodic table that she adores.
Only, there is another side of Kate: the one that hates being the daughter of a minister. The one that can't sleep, who has never really mourned the loss of her mother. The one who maybe told a big More...
Only, there is another side of Kate: the one that hates being the daughter of a minister. The one that can't sleep, who has never really mourned the loss of her mother. The one who maybe told a big More...
Jul 03, 2011
Utami
rated it: 
I’m doing chemistry. Dan itu mungkin salah satu alasan mengapa saya membeli buku ini.
Tokoh dalam buku ini adalah Kate Malone, yang bagi orang lain nampak sempurna. Straight A’s for all her subjects. A loving boyfriend. But of course, nothing is as perfect as it seems. Kate sendiri sebenarnya merasa tertekan karena harus mengurus keluarganya. Dan ledakan terbesar dalam hidup Kate: dia tidak diterima di MIT. Tidak hanya itu, karena suatu kejadian, dia terpaksa harus hidup serumah dengan More...
Tokoh dalam buku ini adalah Kate Malone, yang bagi orang lain nampak sempurna. Straight A’s for all her subjects. A loving boyfriend. But of course, nothing is as perfect as it seems. Kate sendiri sebenarnya merasa tertekan karena harus mengurus keluarganya. Dan ledakan terbesar dalam hidup Kate: dia tidak diterima di MIT. Tidak hanya itu, karena suatu kejadian, dia terpaksa harus hidup serumah dengan More...
Jun 29, 2011
Mary
rated it:
Catalyst is a very different book from my last Anderson book, Speak (a book I highly recommend). Where Speak was very much a story about a tragic incident that happened to one person who lived inside her own head for most of the book, Catalyst was about Kate, who had a lot of friends, but was so single-minded about getting into MIT that she couldn't see anything that was right there in front of her until tragedy strikes someone else. When she begins to notice, she forms an unlikely friendship an
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Jun 02, 2011
Jodi
rated it:
I really liked Catalyst. It was one of those books that I picked up and two hours later I was finished - I didn't want to put it down til I saw it through.
Catalyst is , at times, a really emotionally draining story. Just when you think that things can't get much sadder, another catastrophic event takes place and shakes everything up again. The main character, Kate, was very likable - in fact, my only complaint would be that she was not graduating to do something amazing as she h More...
Catalyst is , at times, a really emotionally draining story. Just when you think that things can't get much sadder, another catastrophic event takes place and shakes everything up again. The main character, Kate, was very likable - in fact, my only complaint would be that she was not graduating to do something amazing as she h More...
Apr 18, 2011
Eileen
rated it:
I think a story will best illustrate what I thought of Catalyst: one of my students gave me the book at the end of third period on Wednesday and I returned it to her by the beginning of fourth period on Thursday. It was that good.
Catalyst involves the kind of character I love best: a highly intelligent, driven, not particularly talkative young woman. Did I mention she want to major in chemistry at MIT? Chemistry!? Sadly, though. I did not always like Kate. She could be a touch More...
Catalyst involves the kind of character I love best: a highly intelligent, driven, not particularly talkative young woman. Did I mention she want to major in chemistry at MIT? Chemistry!? Sadly, though. I did not always like Kate. She could be a touch More...
Jan 23, 2011
Emma
rated it:
The Main Idea the Author Wants to Convey:
In the book Catalyst by Laurie Halse Anderson I believe the main point the author is trying to convey is that people who plan their lives and succeed in school, still have problems and failures, and people whose lives are downright awful and they always fail, they still have successes, problems, and failures but even through all these problems and joys both types of people have to learn, deal, and get on with life. This book demonstrates this throu More...
In the book Catalyst by Laurie Halse Anderson I believe the main point the author is trying to convey is that people who plan their lives and succeed in school, still have problems and failures, and people whose lives are downright awful and they always fail, they still have successes, problems, and failures but even through all these problems and joys both types of people have to learn, deal, and get on with life. This book demonstrates this throu More...
Sep 04, 2010
Julie
rated it:
This is the first book by Laurie Halse Anderson I have read. I know by browsing her repertoire that she writes about difficult teen issues, specifically ones faced by teen girls, and I wonder how her other books compare to this one. The novel’s protagonist, Kate, is the daughter of a preacher, cross-country and track addict, insomniac, professed atheist, and a brilliant chemist in her senior year of high school waiting for her acceptance/rejection letter from MIT. With the death of her mother
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May 25, 2010
Charley
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