new YA Reviewer/Catalyst

Hello everyone!

I read a lot. In fact, I read so much that it's completely dorky. You probably think I then have no time to do anything else, but actually I do. Shock.

Since I read so much, I decided to set up a blog to review different YA books that I read. The first one is CATALYST by Laurie Halse Anderson, author of the wildly successful SPEAK.

Kate Malone is trapped. Trapped in an internal battle.

She's a senior in high school who only applied to ONE college (MIT), a chemistry geek, the daughter of a reverend, and basically someone who must always act "good." Kate refers to her outside self as "Good Kate" and her inside self as "Bad Kate," because although she acts nice on the outside, sometimes she wants to do things like kill her father on the inside.

After a fire guts her neighbors' house, Kate is forced to share a room with her enemy, Teri Litch. From then on, things go downhill: MIT rejects her, and something else happens that just blows everything up.

Overall, I found Catalyst to be an engaging novel. It draws the reader in and doesn't let go.

(Weak review, I know, but it's my first.)