Catalyst by Laurie Halse Anderson (Audiobook Review)

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Title: Catalyst
Author: Laurie Halse Anderson
Narrator: Samantha Mathis
Publisher: Listening Library
Duration: 6 hours, 1 minute
Copyright: 2002
Genres: general fiction, trauma, young adult
Filed in: Audiobook Reviews
Review copy provided by Kearney Public Library.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY: Meet Kate Malone—straight-A science and math geek, minister's daughter, ace long-distance runner, 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 happen like a string of chemical reactions: first, the Malones' neighbors get burned out of their own home and move in. Because her father is a Good Man of God (and a Not Very Thoughtful Parent), Kate has to share her room with her nemesis, Teri Litch, and Teri's troublemaking but adorable little brother. The days are ticking down and she's still waiting to hear from the only college she's applied to: MIT. Kate's life is less and less under control—and then, something happens that truly blows it all apart.
YALSA Selected Audiobooks for Young Adults

MY TAKE ON IT: After reading Laurie Halse Anderson’s first novel, “Speak”, I was fired up to hear more of her work, so I moved on to her second audiobook, “Catalyst.” I was, at first, a little disappointed. “Catalyst” wasn’t a bad audiobook at all, but it didn’t grab me like “Speak” did.
“Speak” is about a young girl who is raped and eventually learns to fight back. There’s a link to my audiobook review for “Speak” below if you want to learn more, and I highly recommend it. “Catalyst”, on the other hand, is more of a stuck-up-braniac-doesn’t-get-the-college-she-wants-and-pitches-a-fit.” That’s a little harsh I suppose; Kate Malone isn’t really stuck up, and she’s only a high school kid after all. To someone who is facing that situation, college rejections probably seem like a big deal. I guess the major shortcoming of “Catalyst” is that it didn’t have the universal appeal that “Speak” had, and I didn’t feel much sympathy for Kate Malone, the way I did for Melanie Sordino.
Okay, now for the saving grace. Laurie Halse Anderson made Kate Malone shallow and short-sighted intentionally to make a point. The point is this: sometimes you just have to switch off the old brain, and let your heart take the lead. When one of Kate’s classmates, someone that she doesn’t like very much, suffers a terrible tragedy, she realizes that it is not enough to be intelligent and live a well-ordered life. She finally sees that there are some situations that smarts and organization can’t cope with. Kate also begins to realize that her own worries about being accepted into a good college are not so big in the grand scheme of things.

NARRATOR: When I picked up this audiobook, I was really hoping for Mandy Siegfried, the narrator of “Speak.” But then I realized that was wrong. Siegfried was the voice of Melanie Sordino. “Catalyst” focuses on a different character, and therefore needed a different voice. Samantha Mathis fit the bill nicely, a more practical voice for Kate Malone’s more practical sensibilities.

FINAL WORD: “Catalyst” is one of those audiobooks that takes a little time in making its point. If it doesn’t grab you right off, have patience because the payoff is worth it. “Catalyst” is another good showing from Laurie Halse Anderson.

CHECK OUT THESE OTHER AUDIOBOOK REVIEWS:
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson (Audiobook Review)
The HungerGames by Suzanne Collins (Audiobook Review)
The GirlWho Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King (Audiobook Review)

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This audiobook review is based on the unabridged audiobook.
Audiobook review by Steven Brandt
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