What Katy Did

Katy Carr is twelve years old, tall as a beanpole, and constantly getting into trouble. She runs the household with mixed results, dreams of being beautiful and beloved, and crashes through life leaving chaos in her wake. Then a terrible accident leaves her bedridden, and everything she thought she knew about herself crumbles. What follows is a slow, painful reckoning: not just with her injuries, but with the gap between who she is and who she desperately wants to be. Written in 1872, this is one of the great unsentimental children's novels about growing up. Coolidge doesn't flinch from the boredom and frustration of illness, nor from Katy's genuine vanity and impatience. But she also shows how suffering can crack open a heart that was too busy being careless to notice other people. It's a book about ambition, family, and the long road from self-absorption to grace.