As Katy says, that's just what 'rivers do'. They run all over the place and sometimes crash into each other. Katy makes up wonderful games to play she invents a game called 'Father Ocean' in which all her brothers, sisters and friends play at being different rivers.

She can go into other worlds and day-dreams about doing valiant deeds - such as saving her Aunt Izzie from tragic death, or becoming a famous artist. She often quarrels with her five siblings and her friend, Cecy. She cares nothing for her clothes, and is always tearing them as she climbs trees, runs around the countryside and even slips off roofs. Helen calls this attending the 'School of Pain'.Īt the beginning of the book, Katy Carr is very mischievous and a real tomboy. Helen is an invalid herself and she helps Katy by talking to her and by helping her manage her difficult situation. Her cousin Helen comes to visit her, and Katy confides in Helen all her hopes and fears. She might have to be confined to bed for the rest of her life – a calamitous tragedy for an energetic, spirited young girl like Katy. One day, Katy falls off a swing and injures her spine. Katy is very imaginative and longs for the day when she will 'do something grand'. She hates sewing, tears her dress every day and doesn't care to be what her Aunt Izzie wants her to be: 'A good little girl'. She lived with her parents in their house in Rhode Island until she died.Katy is a girl of twelve. She worked as a nurse during the American Civil War, after which she began to write. Susan Coolidge was born Sarah Chauncey Woolsey in 1835 in Cleveland, Ohio.

The Carr family from her most popular Katy series was modelled on Coolidge’s own family, with the protagonist Katy modelled on Coolidge herself. Katy’s journey takes her to rainy England, where she finds out what constitutes a ‘fine day’ for the English and what a Dickens-commended muffin tastes like. We follow Katy as she is reunited with her old friends from Hillsover, including the mischievous Rose Red Browne. After some initial reluctance, she agrees. Amy finds a true friend in Katy Carr, and Mrs Ashe invites Katy to join them on a trip to Europe. When Mrs Ashe, a widower, discovers that her visiting nephew has scarlet fever, she sends her only daughter Amy to stay with the Carr family. The story of Katy Carr, the lanky, good-hearted tomboy who learns to be gentle and patient, is continued in this third instalment of Susan Coolidge’s popular Katy series. Likened to Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, What Katy Did Next is a timeless classic for both children and adults to enjoy. HarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.

Who wrote what katy did next