I really enjoyed this book. The narrator was witty but painfully realistic. Everything about this book was real and gritty. Some of the lines were just perfection. I can't think of any more words to describe this book because I loved it so much. Laurie Halse Anderson will always be one of my favorite authors. ( )

Kate Malone, science and math geek, is about to have a nervous breakdown. All of her friends are receiving word back from their choice colleges, and she still waits for a single response from MIT. She can't sleep, eat; she runs in the middle of the night. She avoids the prodding questions from her pastor father. Then the neighbors down the hill are burned out of their house, and Kate is forced to share a room with the malevolent Teri Litch and her adorable toddler brother. Kate begins to realize her priorities may be a bit askew, and then everything gets impossibly worse.

This is a YA book, and the voice is clear from the very first page. Laurie Halse Anderson is a master at recreating that teenage angst and voice - so good, in fact, that I didn't even like Kate during the first part of the book. She's incredibly shallow, even compared to her nemesis, Teri. Of course, she matures during the course of the book, and even the awful Teri gains new dimensions. The ending did seem abrupt, though; I wish it had gone just a chapter more, just for a smidgen more resolution. I just couldn't relate to Kate much because she would have struck me as shallow and ridiculously immature even when I was a teenager. It's a decent book, but not a keeper. ( )

Full review at http://yannabe.com/2009/10/30/review-...

Summary: High school senior Kate is at the top of her class. She could attend just about any school, but it’s MIT she wants. All that matters is getting that acceptance package, but that’s okay because Kate’s got everything under control. After a fire in her neighborhood, Kate’s father the reverend opens up their house—more specifically Kate’s room—to the one girl from school she can’t stand, and suddenly Kate’s not so in control anymore.

Review: LHA hit the overachieving nail on the head with Kate’s character. This woman can WRITE. On just about every page of this book, I found myself marveling at a turn of phrase. Case in point:

I shiver and hustle to my sad excuse of a motor vehicle, a Yugo named Bert.

I usually drive to school on autopilot. Not today—leaving late has landed me smack in the middle of rush-hour traffic. This is bad. Bert fears traffic. Bert is a wuss, a tissue box on tires with a bulimic hunger for motor oil. I pet the dashboard as I turn onto the main road, and promise him a filter change if he can get me to school without overheating.

I was completely and utterly in love with this book…until one plot point threw me out of the story world because it affected me so much. I don’t want to give spoilers, but does anyone who’s read this know what I mean? Maybe it’s just me.

Even so, I loved this book, and I think you will too. ( )

Kate grew up without a mom, her dad's a dweeb, her brother's a pest, and, oh yeah, she didn't get into MIT. Life's tough. But she learns that maybe other people have things just a little worse than her. ( )

Kate Malone is a popular, straight A student who commits the cardinal sin of applying to only one college. The traditional way is to apply to a few safety collages, but all she wants is to go to MIT. She spends her time when not in school looking after her dad after her mother died and running. Running is what clears her head and she muses between Bad Kate and Good Kate (her conscience).

Their neighbours house burns down one day. The mother is unwell, her husband used to beat her up and one shot to the head has left her permanently damaged. Her daughter and son move in with the Mallones and Kate has to give her bedroom to her nemisis Teri Litch as well as her annoying little brother. After spending some time with them Kate begins to love little Mikey, but when tradgey hits in a string of three events Kate's world is completely turned upside down.

One thing I loved about this was that all the chapter headings were names after chemistry terminology. Being a biochemist I lapped this up! It is set in the same school as Speak with another troubled teen and just as gripping a plot. I didn't see all of the twists coming and two in particular were quite shocking. If you liekd Speak, then this is definitely for you. ( )