What Katy Did at School (Puffin Classics) [Paperback]

Susan Coolidge (Author)

Book Description

Series: Puffin Classics

First published in 1872, this is the story of Katy and her sister who are to spend a year away at boarding school. On arrival the girls have an inkling that Hillsover might turn out to be rather different from their expectations. The author also wrote "What Katy did at School" and "What Katy did".

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Puffin (October 1, 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140350438
• ISBN-13: 978-0140350432
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,441,296 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Tomboy Katy Becomes a Lady!, February 3, 2001

By 

"kaia_espina" (Quezon City, Philippines) - See all my reviews

This review is from: What Katy Did at School (Puffin Classics) (Paperback)

Those who remember Katy as a tomboy who always tore her frock and ran holes in her hose will be pleasantly surprised when they see how she turned out. Yes, she did mature greatly at the end of the first book, "What Katy Did", but the second book shows her as such a ladylike young woman that it will seem like she never ran around wildly as a child.

Katy and Clover go to boarding school where they make friends and have all sorts of adventures that only boarding school girls can have. (It is an episodic novel.) There are lots of funny stories about how school rules get broken and what it's like to live on the same floor as a strict teacher. A whole chapter is devoted to a wonderful game called "WORD AND QUESTION". It is my favorite chapter of the book, since it is full of funny poems and funny situations. (Word and Question is also one of my favorite games to play.) Another chapter is all about the S.S.U.C., a club of which Katy is president. The acrostic unbelievably stands for "Society for Suppression of Unladylike Conduct"--for Katy, Clover and all the members are determined to be as ladylike and proper as possible.

Some people despair that Katy, who was such a wonderful tomboy, finally lost herself. They say that the book influences little girls who are like Katy to be someone they are not. Personally, I think that "What Katy Did at School" is not about a girl being something she is not. In fact, Katy is extremely self-possessed. I believe that the books "What Katy Did" and "What Katy Did in School", when taken together, teach little girls that it is okay to be wild and free--but it is also okay to be ladylike. Anyone who says that Katy stopped having fun in this book has never read it, was never really a girl, or just has a personal bias against boarding schools.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Interesting book!, November 10, 2001

By 

Maria "Maria Kanai" (Yokohama, Japan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: WHAT KATY DID AT SCHOOL (Yearling Classic) (Paperback)

This time, Katy is not staying at her beloved home in the countryside like she does while staying sick in the first book, "What Katy Did", but instead, she goes to a boarding school in East Coast with her sister Clover. This happens when Cousin Olivia (or Mrs. Page. She is Katy's cousin) says that Katy is solemn and does not "bubble over" like Cousin Olivia's daughter, Lilly, and she tells Katy's father about this untrue judgement. Her father, worried, sends Katy and Clover away to a boarding school on the East Coast.

Dr. Carr (Katy's father) and the two very sad sisters, go off together to the train which would take them to Hillsover, the name of the boarding school. At the train, Katy, Clover, and Dr. Carr meets Mr. and Mrs. Page and the "bubbly" Lilly. Lilly is very snobbish and spoiled but the two Carr sisters listens to Lilly's opinion about Hillsover, and they decide that they half like and half dislike it.

After some time of traveling, Katy, Clover, Lilly, and Dr. Carr reach Hillsover. Katy and Clover are allowed to spend one night with Dr. Carr in another Hotel and after they meet a very strange but interesting girl called Rosy Red, they start thinking that Hillsover will be pretty interesting after all. But they are horrified that they have to share a washroom with other girls and Dr. Carr, noting this, buys a washroom for them, very much relieving the sisters' terror. They meet all the girls and starts getting used to the flow of Hillsover. All the girls dislike Miss Jane, a missionary's apprentice, who has a verry sharp tongue and makes many strict rules, and another teacher, Miss Nipson, who does not have a good judgement over the girls. But the students are very respectful and rather afraid of another teacher, named Miss Florence.

As the days go by, Katy decides to make a society called S.S.U.C., which stands for "Society for the Suppresion of Unladylike Conduct" because the girls are flirting around with the boys in another house. The girls who joins has to be determined to be ladylike but Lilly does not join the society,
calling it "stupid". This society makes a fun game called WORD AND QUESTION. You have to write down a word and a question and the leader, who is Katy, puts it in a basket, shakes it, and the other players take out a paper. The players has to write a poem answering the question and using a word. This is a very fun part to read.

After a year, Katy and Clover goes back to their home but has to endure the slowness of the canal. They come back, happy and safe, and they find that their room had been decorated beautifully. It's a very delightful part.

This book is very interesting. Though I still like this book, I wonder what happened to Clarence, a boyfriend of Clover's. Clover made friends with him at Mr. and Mrs. Page's house during Autumn Vacation, but the book doesn't say much about after the Vacation, except a letter from him. I think this book was very, very,very, fun to read. I think it was a good book. Many people would like this. The next one is "What Katy Did Next".

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Sequel to What Katy Did, October 4, 2011

By 

Donna Hill - See all my reviews

This review is from: What Katy Did At School (Echo Library) (Paperback)

I read this along with What Katy Did over and over as a child. I loved these books the way I loved Louisa May Alcott's books and maybe even more.

Once again, just as in the first volume What Katy Did, characterization is more important than action. The characters are so well-drawn--types that you can learn to love and dislike as though they were your own classmates. Who could forget Rose Red, Katy's loveable and naughty friend, who made boarding school bearable for her with her upbeat, wild personality. She could be found finding her way into Katy's room during silent study hour via a dresser drawer and arranging a pencil and paper game for several girls to enjoy when they were supposed to be hitting the books. In today's day and age, I suppose this prank would be considered tame, but I remember thinking that it was positively ingenious and really naughty!

Lily, the martyr type, who always spent the first day back at boarding school crying till her eyes were bright red, had inherited her mother's snobbish ways. I remember how Katy enjoyed visiting a classmate from a poor family, a family whom Lily didn't think much of at all. Katy enjoyed herself so much at this simple home where the people were warm and hospitable although the furnishings were plain and homespun.

Who could forget Miss Jane, the teacher who'd been suspicious of Katy ever since she was wrongly accused of violating a rule, learning to admire the girl who ventured into Miss Jane's sickroom to offer her some TLC. Katy said that she couldn't help but feel compassion for Miss Jane because she was sure that no one else was visiting her and that she knew just how lonely a sickroom could be from her experience following her accident.

I loved the chapter on walking to the bathhouse with their towels and soap in hand and passing the boys' school. Rose Red did something wild and crazy that day to attract the attention of the boys even though they weren't even supposed to acknowledge that the boys were there.

I think that this sequel is even better than the first volume in some ways. I loved reading it and re-reading it, and my daughter loved it when I read it to her. I probably read it over and over from the time I was 12 until I was well into my teens, and my daughter was a preteen when we enjoyed it together.