What Katy Did (The Adventures Of A 12 Years Old American Girl)(Paperback)

Twelve year old Katy Carr and her five brothers and sisters have all kinds of fun adventures. A thicket becomes "Paradise", a hayloft a place for a "feast", and the entire house a playground for games invented by Katy. Katy means well, but is impulsive and irresponsible and is constantly getting into scrapes and trouble. After the Carr's Cousin Helen visits, Katy vows to be more like Cousin Helen, who is saint-like despite the fact that she had a bad accident and hasn't been able to walk for years. Unfortunately, Katy gets into the worst scrape of her life the very next day - disobeying her Aunt Izzie, she herself has a terrible accident. It will take Katy a long time to recover and in the course of her recovery she grows into a beautiful, responsible young woman. I loved reading "What Katy Did" as a child and it's still fun to read as an adult. Written in the 1870's, it is definitely old-fashioned, but it makes me yearn for the days when life was so much simpler. Susan Coolidge writes as if she is sitting opposite the reader, verbally telling the story and uses words that children might use such as "honestest" which makes the book a pleasant read. Coolidge also includes humor that children won't get, but adults will, such as when Katy gives Aunt Izzie $7.25 and a long list of Christmas presents to buy with that small amount of money. Katy is a very realistic heroine; yes, she gets into mischief, but what child doesn't, and she means well. The rest of the children are equally engaging, for me Elsie stands out. Cousin Helen is indeed saintly, almost unbelievable in her goodness, but Coolidge makes her believable also. "What Katy Did" is a nice, old-fashioned read.