What Katy Did at School

How much fun I had reading this! It was interesting to see so many tropes of school stories here, but in a nascent sort of way: the snooty, jealous rival; the secret society; sneaking food into the room for a party; the nice teacher vs the "crabby martinet"; and so on.

As a story to be mined for bits of material culture and social expectations, it's very rich. For just one example, Katy and Clover are aghast to discover the "lavatory" at school, a gathering room where all 48 girls have wash basins to perform their morning ablutions together. The principal thinks it's a very clever idea, but Dr Carr insists upon a washstand in the girls' room, which leads to a fad for them amongst the students, and eventually discontinuation of the shared show more washroom.

The plot is fairly gentle, not lingering too long on any one incident over the course of the year, mostly about the good times Katy and Clover have. I was terribly amused by the reputational sabotage that occurs against Katy, and how it was such a standard piece of school stories 50 years later, but here it doesn't quite follow those usual, later patterns. But that is probably the only bad thing that happens!

It is, of course, aspirational for the readers and gives examples of good behavior vs. bad. Katy is mostly "good", though she is amused by the innocent naughtiness of her friends - and shocked and dismayed by the less innocent flirting and carrying on with boys from the nearby college. It was, after all, not the done thing for young ladies to have relationships with young men they weren't related to.

I was gratified that Katy's back injury wasn't forgotten. She is given a special, cushioned chair for studying, and explicit instructions to lie down flat if her back begins to ache, even if during the study hour.

This certainly isn't going to be the enjoyable read for everyone that it was for me, but I love girls' books and school stories and found it to be a lovely example. show less

Katy and Clover Carr head east to boarding school in New Hampshire in this sequel to the 1872 classic, What Katy Did, which followed its eponymous heroine through a transformative few seasons of pain and illness, after a back injury. The story here picks up shortly after the conclusion of its predecessor, during the course of a sultry Ohio summer. The visit of distant Cousin Olivia the following winter, and that relative's belief that Katy is too solemn for a girl of her age, owing to her long illness and its chastening effect on her, set in motion events that will see Katy and Clover attending the "Nunnery" - a girls' boarding school in Hillsover (no doubt meant as a stand-in for Hanover, NH). Here they make friends, especially with show more the irrepressible 'Rose Red' (Rosamond Redding), and are soon involved in school life. Katy, disliking the way in which some of the girls behave around Hillsover's young male population—the town also boasting a notable college—founds a private club known as the S.S.U.C., the Society for the Suppression of Unladylike Conduct. Despite this, Katy herself is falsely accused of passing a note to the boy next door, and is in disgrace for a time. Deciding to weather the storm, she and Clover carry on, and are soon the most popular girls in the school. Autumn vacation and Christmas festivities follow, and all too soon it is time to go home, something they have longed for, but which also brings to an end their one year away at school...

Published in 1873, What Katy Did at School is a wonderfully entertaining follow-up to the initial book about the Carr family. I enjoyed that earlier book, but nowhere near as much as this one! This is probably party owing to the fact that this is a school story, and I am a fan of the genre, but I think it is also partly due to the fact that there is no theme here of the educational role of pain in our lives. Whatever the case may be, while there was nothing here on actual schooling—like many such tales, it is more about the social aspect of school—I nevertheless found the story engrossing. There are some common elements here, found in many such tales, from the false accusation to the secret society, but while these may have been easily recognizable tropes, they didn't detract from my enjoyment in the slightest. I appreciated the fact that Katy isn't suddenly a complete angel—she gets very angry indeed when falsely accused, and is quite sharp with the head of the school and a teacher—but that she is able to modify her position, after some additional thought. I also appreciated the fact that the true culprit wasn't who I thought it was (I assumed it was a jealous cousin Lilly), and that the revelation ended up being an afterthought, because Katy and Clover has succeeded in living the incident down. All in all, a very entertaining tale, one I would recommend to readers who enjoyed the first book, as well as to those seeking 19th-century boarding school stories. I am lucky enough to own a lovely old copy from the 1920s, illustrated by Ralph Pallen Coleman, which increased my reading pleasure. show less

This is the sequel to 'What Katy Did', and features a year when Katy, now recovered from her long illness, goes to a boarding school for a year with her sister Clover. There they meet the fascinating and rather daring Rose Red, and find themselves involved in various scrapes.

There's very little about the education in the school, and a great deal about the girls and their various friendships. The author's biases come through rather clearly, seeing flirting with the boys' college next door as being decidedly unladylike, and causing Katy to form a society that considers itself above such things.

Some mildly amusing sections, and what seems now like very interesting American social history, since the book was first published in 1873, so show more was contemporary for about 140 years ago.

I had forgotten most of the anecdotes and very much enjoyed re-reading this classic on my Kindle. I'm not sure it would appeal to today's teenagers, but older children might like it, and it's certainly worth re-reading by those of us who remember it fondly from our own childhood. show less

This is a classic children's book which I first read when I was about six, in a nice hardback edition which I still have. This time, I read it (free) on my Kindle. The medium hardly matters. The story is about Katy Carr and her five siblings, who live with their busy doctor father and his rather frazzled and frequently cross sister, Aunt Izzy. Katy is good-hearted but frequently heedless, and hates being told what to do.

The first half of the story lets us into the lives and personalities of the children, particularly sweet Clover, Katy's helpmate and the rather envious Elsie, who longs to be part of Katy's circle. We see Katy getting into mischief at home and at school, and continually wishing to be a better person.

Their father's show more cousin Helen, a life-long invalid, comes to stay and exerts a good influence over the children despite being rather too good to be true. Then, when Katy has a horrible accident, Helen helps her move out of her initial depression and anger. This part of the book is a little cringeworthy; I skimmed some of it, but it wasn't too long. The last part of the book, as I remembered, was very encouraging.

Recommended as a classic to confident readers of about six and upwards, although probably intended for young teenagers originally. show less

Not quite as good as "What Katy did" but still enjoyable as we follow Katy and her sister through a year at boarding school. Interesting insight into 1870s life.

What Katy Did at School is a compelling tale of the intrigues of life at the New England girls boarding school which Katy attends. Her trials and adventures are all interwoven with a sense of fun and gently ironic good humour.

This was always my favourite of the three Katy books and I enjoyed a quick read through it again. It took me ages to read when I was a child!