Susan Coolidge's What Katy Did is the story of 22-year-old Katy, who continuously makes and rapidly breaks her commitments about how she will change her actions and treat others, especially her five younger siblings, with more respect and comfort. When Katy meets her cousin Helen, an invalid, Katy is awed by her sweetness and generosity. Meanwhile, Katy decides to be like her cousin. Although Katy has an opportunity to be more like her cousin Helen, she wishes she hadn't been restricted to her bedroom for four years because of her accident. The author's main focus in this story is the change Katy goes through during her sickness. When Katy learned her lessons about how to really take care of others, she realized she had recovered the capacity to walk. The journey of a girl and the changes she goes through are described wonderfully.
Sarah Chauncey Woolsey's pen name is Susan Coolidge. She was born on January 29th, 1835, in Cleveland, Ohio, to John Mumford Woolsey and Jane Andrews. She was a famed American children's author. Woolsey showed interest in reading and writing stories at an early age. During the Civil War, she was actively working in a hospital. In 1870, after her father's death, they shifted to Newport, Rhode Island. By this time, Sarah Woolsey had already published a couple of magazine articles. Her first book, a collection of stories for young girls, appeared as The New Year's Bargain under the pen name Susan Coolidge in 1871. She started using the name afterward. Her following books included What Katy Did (1872), a novel for girls that was inspired by her own childhood journey and was highly popular in the series. Mischief's Thanksgiving (1874), Eyebright (1879), A Little Country Girl (1885), Just Sixteen (1889), The Barberry Bush (1893), and An Old Convent School in Paris and Other Papers (1895). The warm-hearted mischief and fun-loving heroines of Woolsey's books set them apart from others and remain popular for decades.
