Catalyst

Meet Kate Malone-straight-A science and math geek, minister's daughter, ace long-distance runner, new girlfriend (to Mitchell "Early Decision Harvard" Pangborn III), unwilling family caretaker, and emotional avoidance champion. Kate manages her life by organizing it as logically as the periodic table. She can handle it all-or so she thinks. Then, things change as suddenly as a string of chemical reactions; first, the Malones' neighbors get burned out of their own home and move in. Kate has to share her room with her nemesis, Teri Litch, and Teri's little brother. The days are ticking down and she's still waiting to hear from the only college she applied to: MIT. Kate feels that her life is spinning out of her control-and then, something happens that truly blows it all apart. Set in the same community as the remarkable Speak, Catalystis a novel that will change the way you look at the world.

Laurie Halse Anderson, herself a minister's daughter and runner, is the author of the award-winning novels Fever 1793 and Speak (a Michael L. Printz Award Finalist, a National Book Award Finalist, and a New York Times and Publishers Weekly best-seller). She has two teenage daughters and lives just outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Visit her Web site at www.writerlady.com.