History Literature / Catalyst

* TangledFamilyTree: [[spoiler:Teri is Mikey's mother and half-sister, because he was conceived when their father raped her.]]

** In a more general sense, not being able to achieve a goal isn't the end of the world. There's always other things you can put time and energy into.

* AnAesop: Have safety schools when applying for college! They're called safety schools for a reason.

* TheCobblersChildrenHaveNoShoes: Jack Malone's job doesn't leave much time for spending time with his daughter, leaving her to her own devices when she gets rejected from MIT. He doesn't even know that she had no safety schools. He spends more time trying to help Teri and her mother after [[spoiler:Mikey dies and Teri starts destroying her house]].
** To be fair, Jack ''does'' try to help Kate at first, before the Litches take up his attention, but his idea of help is discussing Kate's safety schools and she doesn't want to tell him she never applied for any.

* [[IllGirl Ill Boy:]] Kate's brother, Toby, is implied to have been plagued with respiratory problems since he was very young.

* AdultFear:
** Everything about Charlie Litch. Teri explains to Kate that the reason Mrs. Litch is the way she is is because "My mom got hit in the head with a bat once. My dad was holding the bat." [[spoiler:And then there's Mikey, who exists as a result of ParentalIncest.]]
** Mikey [[spoiler:wanders off during construction and gets electrocuted. What's worse is that it could have happened at any time]].

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* RealityEnsues: Kate is rejected from MIT, and her attempts to push for an appeal do not work to help her overturn that ruling. She's able to at least get a clear explanation as to why they turned her down, but in the end she has to face the fact that she's not getting in though the admissions office wishes her luck.

* AdultsAreUseless: Averted with the volunteers Jack pulled together to help rebuild the Litch home after the fire. .
* AdultFear: Everything about Charlie Litch. Teri explains to Kate that the reason Mrs. Litch is the way she is is because "My mom got hit in the head with a bat once. My dad was holding the bat." [[spoiler:And then there's Mikey, who exists as a result of ParentalIncest.]]

* BreakTheHaughty: At the start of the story, Kate is certain of her chances to get into MIT. Her world abruptly falls apart when she's rejected, but she gradually comes to learn that life could be much worse.

* RealityEnsues: Kate is rejected from MIT, and her attempts to push for an appeal do not work to help her overturn that ruling. She's able to at least get a clear explanation as to why they turned her down, but in the end she has to face the fact that she's not getting in.

* WhatTheHellHero: Mitch calls out Teri for stealing Kate's things and using her as an emotional punching bag after [[spoiler:Mikey's death]].

Kate is a preacher's daughter who excels in chemistry and is a star track athlete, with her sights dead-set on getting into the Massachusetts Institute of Technology once she graduates from Merryweather High School. She's so determined, in fact, that it's the only college she's applied to. Her getting rejected is just the tip of the iceberg, however, as soon afterwards a fire renders her neighbors - her abrasive school nemesis Teri Litch, Teri's mentally unstable mother, and her adorable toddler brother Mikey - homeless, and Kate's father arranges for Teri and Mikey to move in with his family. Kate must now struggle to deal with her rejection from MIT and a less-than-pleasant new roommate, all while maintaining her sanity.

* AdultsAreUseless: Jack Malone tries [[spoiler:and fails]] to help Teri Litch and Mikey, while ignoring that his daughter may need some guidance following her rejection from MIT.
* AdultFear: [[spoiler:Your husband beating you senseless and raping and impregnating your daughter; your young son wandering off and getting killed while you're not looking...]]

* ChildrenAreInnocent: Mikey. The biggest problem he ever ends up causing is an exceptionally filthy diaper.

* CheerfulChild: Three-year-old Mikey Litch is perpetually adorable.
* ChildByRape: [[spoiler:Mikey is both Teri's brother ''and'' [[ParentalIncest her son.]]]]

* DisappearedDad: Teri's father is not in the picture, having died in jail after attacking his wife with a baseball bat [[spoiler:and impregnating his daughter.]]
* DueToTheDead: [[spoiler:Still in shock immediately following Mikey's death, Kate and her friends stay at the Litch house after everyone else has left, lighting candles and fingerpainting the walls. A few chapters later, Mikey's funeral is attended by dozens of people, some of whom Kate wouldn't have expected to see there.]]

* ItsAlwaysSunnyAtFunerals: [[spoiler:Mikey Litch's]] funeral is held on a beautiful sunny day. Kate lampshades this, commenting on how "obscene" it is to bury a body on such a day.

* StickyFingers: Teri, who unabashedly steals (and wears) Kate's watch, and later the necklace her boyfriend Mitch gave her. [[spoiler:Mitch takes offense to this, on Kate's behalf.]]

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* Foreshadowing: At one point in the story, Mikey asks for "Mommy". Toby brings Teri instead, since it's Teri who takes care of Mikey. [[spoiler:Mikey doesn't ask for his mother again. Why? Because Toby got it right the first time.]]

* PromotionToParent: Teri has largely taken on the role of caring for Mikey, seeing as Mrs. Litch is...not entirely there. [[spoiler:Ultimately averted - Teri ''is'' the parent.]]

! Provides the following examples:

* AbusiveParents: Teri's father was abusive towards both her [[DomesticAbuser and her mother.]]

* [[WhatTheHellHero What The Hell Bully]]: Mitch calls out Teri for stealing Kate's things and using her as an emotional punching bag after [[spoiler:Mikey's death]].