What Katy Did

Title: What Katy Did
Author: Susan Coolidge
Series: What Katy Did, book 1
Major Themes: Family, Childhood
Synopsis: Lively and full of mischief, Katy Carr lives her life to the full with her five siblings—until an accident makes her an invalid for many years, and she has to learn to live life in a whole new way.

Several years ago, a friend told me about a book they had recently enjoyed as a family, What Katy Did. Since then, I’ve managed to collect the first three books in the series while doing second-hand shopping, but I realized recently that although I have these beautiful hardcover copies on the shelf, I haven’t read any of them yet. So I pulled the first book in the series out and put it on my TBR stack for the month, and got to it last week. It turned out to be a fairly fast, engaging read—not the best book I’ve ever read, but it was a nice story.

Katy Carr and her five siblings are a very happy, busy crew. Their mother died before the story started, and their father’s sister helps to keep the house running. Katy has grand dreams of growing up and being a lady one day, but for now, she’s a carefree, lively girl who loves to have a bit of fun. She leads her siblings and friends into many varied and wonderful adventures (and sometimes mischief), and often forgets about trying to keep her clothes clean and her spaces orderly. She goes to school, plays with her siblings in their different hide-outs, hosts friends and has picnics, and occasionally comes up with grand new plans of entertainment. Then one day, an accident changes Katy’s happy, carefree life, and it takes everything she has and then some to hold onto her dreams and learn to be patient and loving as an invalid.

There was much about What Katy Did that I enjoyed. The story was well written, the plot was engaging, and I could easily see someone in the 8–14-year-old age range finding this book quite gripping. There was a lot to love about the story. Katy and her siblings are dears, and the number of scrapes and adventures they get into keeps the story moving. There’s something lovely about books that portray families pulling together, loving, and supporting each other—even if they don’t always get along—and this book does that excellently well.

I was slightly bothered by the slant on morality that was shown here, though. As I’ve noticed in other books from the same era (The Bishop’s Shadow, for example), characters will often be shown making good choices to change themselves apart from the transforming work of Christ. They’ll admire someone good and gentle, and emulate their example, but do it in their own strength, rather than realizing that those attributes come from a living relationship with the Lord. Stories like this are still good, clean reads, but I feel the message they portray could potentially be somewhat misleading to children if there are no discussions afterward about how our changes should be rooted in Christ, not in trying to just “be good” like Jane down the street. This particular book did have a few references to the Lord, but it was more passing references, rather than any of the characters having relationships with Him.

What Katy Did wasn’t a fast-paced read (I found the first quarter to half of the book quite slow), but it was one that I ended up enjoying. I don’t know if I’ll keep my copy on the shelf—I may reserve my decision until I read the two sequels I have—but I am glad I had a chance to read this, and agree with the friend who recommended the story to me that it’s a good book.

WARNING: Gracious is used in pt. 1, ch. 7, and pt. 2, ch. 4 and 5. “Heaven knows” is used in pt. 2, ch. 2. Swear is used in pt. 2, ch. 8 and 12. Someone dies in pt. 1, ch. 11. In pt. 2, ch. 9, there is a story of a beheading from the French Revolution, and “by George!” is used. The children are occasionally disobedient, but generally, they are punished for it.

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