Catalyst

=Catalyst=

//Catalyst// Overview
Set in Syracuse, New York, //Catalyst// (2002) takes place in the same town as Anderson's //Speak// (1999)//.// High school senior Kate Malone's mother died of pneumonia when Kate was in fourth grade and her father is a reverend at the church next door. The Litch family lives in the run-down neighboring barn and when tragedy strikes their family the Malones are expected to help. Kate has her own tragedy happening; she is waiting to hear back from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) after she has been wait-listed, but she has a dark secret of her own keeping her up at night, she only applied to one college and there is a chance she was not accepted.

Dark Themes
Referring to herself as Good Kate and Bad Kate, this protagonist recognizes her own strengths and faults. She has inner demons and has experienced significant losses. Outwardly, she is "Good Kate, Rev. Jack Malone's girl" but inside she is "Bad Kate, daughter of no one...such a bitch, thinks she's all that, prays with her eyes open" (Anderson, 2002, p. 1). In revealing this dark side, Anderson shows YAs that it is possible to have negative thoughts and still be a good person. The teen years are filled with forming opinions about people, politics, religion, etc. and questioning one's identity and beliefs is part of the rites of passage to adulthood.

Kate never truly grieved the loss of her mother who died suddenly of pneumonia when Kate was in fourth grade. She says, "I know I am supposed to be all tragic and freaked out because my mom is dead, but sorry, I'm not" (Anderson, 2002, p. 22). However, her desire to get into MIT, her mother's alma mater, is her way of holding onto her memory and making her proud. That is why being rejected is extremely devastating. Most teenagers also strive to please their parents and expect hard to work to result in success. Seeing that effort does not always produce favorable outcomes can be comforting to YAs who have experienced loss or disappointment after applying a significant level of effort.

The Litch family is at the center of unfortunate circumstances. Teri Litch is bullied at school and was raped by her father two years earlier. Although Mr. Litch went to jail for his crime, Teri also lives with the consequences of the rape by bearing a child, Mikey, who is also her brother. Despite the troubling situation, Teri loves and cares about Mikey. Additionally, the Litch's house/barn is destroyed in a fire so they move into the Malone's house while the church members assist them in resurrecting their home. Unfortunately, when the home is almost finished being built, Mikey is playing in his bedroom when "a bottled bolt of lightning came from the electrical outlet...crackled through [his] fingertips and stole him away" (Anderson, 2002, p. 152). His death is the most lamentable event in the novel, putting things in perspective for Kate and readers as well. Things that seemed disastrous to teens prior reading this book, such as not being asked to prom, not having a car, or being rejected, appear trivial after reading about the loss of a child.

Overcoming Obstacles
Kate does not like to give up on her goals. She strategically plans everything she does from laundry to cross country races to chemistry experiments, but when making the most important decision of her life she falls short and relies on destiny. Her dream, since she was a little girl, was to continue her late mother's legacy and attend MIT. This long-standing ambition does not work out the way Kate carefully calculated:

Step 1. Hypothesis--I am brilliant. I am special. I am going to MIT, just like my mom did. I am going to change the world. Step 2. Procedure--Acquire primary and secondary school education. Follow all rules. Excel at chemistry and math, ace standardized tests. Acquire social skills and athletic prowess; maintain a crushing extracurricular load. Earn national science fair honors. Apply to MIT. Wait for acceptance letter. Step 3. Results--Failure. Step 4. Retrace steps. Procedure flawless. Step 5. Conclusion--Hypothesis incorrect. I am a loser. So simple. (Anderson, 2002, p. 72)

Teenagers can relate to the feelings associated with failure, especially when all of the step taken are supposed to yield specific results. Kate realizes that life is not a black and white experiment that fits into the box of an equation. Many YAs are shocked when they are rejected by the world because they were applauded their whole lives in their home towns. Whether turned down in love, college applications, job interviews, or driving tests teenagers can relate to Kate's disappointment. She does not give up easily and devises lists of ideas to solve her unexpected problem.

In the midst of trying to figure out what went wrong with MIT, Kate is coerced into sharing her home with Teri and Mikey Litch while their house is being reconstructed. Making the best of the circumstance, Kate volunteers to help build the new house and learns valuable skills while making a few friends in the process. Volunteering helps Kate regain a sense of purpose and control, especially when she becomes aware that "the smell of smoke has been replaced by the smell of new lumber, varnish, and paint: hopeful smells" (Anderson, 2002, p. 140).

When Mikey's accident strikes, Kate knows she has to stay strong for Teri, "hold[ing] her shoulders, slippery, desperate, to keep her from crashing" (Anderson, 2002, p. 154). Mikey's death helps Kate come to terms with the fact that she will not be attending MIT and teaches her to slow down and enjoy life's pleasures. Rather than being disappointed in herself, she comes to terms with her fate and decides to take the year off from school and continue to work on rebuilding the Litch house. Through various coping mechanisms, she becomes aware of what really constitutes a well-lived life : positive relationships and appreciating what one has.

Competitiveness
The person Kate competes with most is herself. She sets high standards and usually fulfills them through hard work and dedication whether it involves physical training, a well-managed schedule, or studying. Even though she usually stays after school for cross country/track practice, she also runs late at night after her family is asleep. While running she imagines "a ghost hover[ing] over [her] left shoulder" threatening her to run faster, but Kate knows that "chances are good" that she will win (Anderson, 2002, p. 1). Other self-confident YAs who are secretly afraid of failure will find comfort in knowing they are not alone. As the only female in the Malone household, Kate took on most of the chores including making sure her brother, Toby, takes his asthma medicine, doing the laundry, and going grocery shopping. Kate's to-do lists help her stay on task, but with so much responsibility and so little time, she often stays up all night to ensure her family's lives run smoothly.

Obligations increase as children grow into adults, sometimes causing anxiety and depression. Depending on the personality of the individual, teens who feel overwhelmed may become manic or delusional like Kate. For example, when Kate is waiting to hear back from MIT and walks into the chemistry lab she feels, "Twenty-six sets of eyes follow me to my table. Twenty-six pair of lips whisper the same question. "Are you in? Are you in? Are you in, Kate?"" (Anderson, 2002, p. 25). Having patience when waiting for an important response and devising an alternate plan if things do not work out the way one plans are traits of well-adjusted adults. By graciously accepting the unexpected and viewing it as an opportunity for something greater, Kate serves as a role model for YA readers.