Clara’s Verdict
Jacqueline Wilson’s gift for writing children who feel completely, uncomplicatedly real has made her one of the most reliably excellent authors for the eight-to-twelve age group, and Katy – her modern reimagining of Susan Coolidge’s classic What Katy Did – is among her finest. The original novel, published in 1872, told the story of a boisterous girl whose life is transformed by a serious accident and who must learn to live differently. Wilson keeps the essential structure and emotional core whilst transplanting the story into the twenty-first century with genuine warmth, wry humour, and the particular kind of honesty that makes her books feel trustworthy to young readers.
Madeleine Leslay’s narration for Bolinda Audio brings Katy to life with exactly the right energy – spirited and funny, but capable of real feeling when the story demands it. This is an audiobook that works beautifully for family listening as well as for independent young listeners.
About the Audiobook
Katy Carr is the eldest of a big, chaotic, wonderfully imperfect family – a daredevil who loves climbing garages, skateboarding, cycling, and generally testing every available boundary. She has complicated feelings about her stepmother Izzie, an uneasy relationship with her own restlessness, and the kind of boundless physical energy that makes sitting still feel like a small punishment.
Then there is an accident. A serious one. And everything changes.
The story of what follows – how Katy learns to inhabit a different version of her life, how her relationship with Izzie shifts unexpectedly, how she finds her way back to school and to the people she loves and to some version of herself she recognises – is handled by Wilson with characteristic emotional intelligence. The book deals with disability without sentimentality: Katy’s frustration, grief, and eventual adaptation are rendered with specificity rather than schematic resolution. The happy ending is earned, not gifted.
At 11 hours and 31 minutes, this is a substantial listen, with enough substance and emotional texture to engage adult readers alongside younger ones. Fans of Wilson’s Tracy Beaker and Hetty Feather will feel immediately at home.
The Narration
Madeleine Leslay narrates for Bolinda Audio, and she brings the full range of Katy’s world to life with skill and warmth. The distinction between Katy’s pre- and post-accident voice is managed sensitively – the boisterousness of the early chapters giving way to something quieter and more inward without losing the essential character underneath. The sibling relationships, the school dynamics, and the gradual thaw between Katy and Izzie are all rendered with the kind of naturalness that makes you forget you are listening to a single performer playing multiple roles. Leslay has a gift for children’s voices that keeps the performances feeling genuine rather than condescending, which is a rarer achievement than it sounds.
What Readers Say
Rated 4.6 out of 5 on Audible UK, with readers responding warmly to both the story and its telling. Reviews span several decades of readership – one listener first encountered the book at twelve and returned at twenty-two, finding it had held up entirely. Another reviewer praised the book as “such a joy to read” and recommended it specifically as a way of developing empathy for disabled people in readers who have little personal experience of disability.
The update of Coolidge’s original – trading the Victorian setting and its more moralistic framework for contemporary family dynamics and Wilson’s wry, affectionate humour – has been received as a genuine improvement rather than a pale modernisation. One reader appreciated the way the book doesn’t shy away from Katy’s difficult emotions, describing it as “a spin off from what Katy did but a much easier read in respects.”
Who Should Listen?
Perfect for children aged eight to twelve, for family listening, and for adults who want to revisit a beautifully told story about resilience, identity, and the complicated love within families. Ideal for children encountering physical disability through fiction for the first time, or for any listener who likes their children’s audiobooks to deal with real emotional territory rather than sidestepping it towards easier resolutions. If you know and love Jacqueline Wilson, this is essential; if you’ve never read her, this is an excellent place to discover one of Britain’s most genuinely gifted children’s authors.
