Katy Grant Books In Order

Publication Order of Summer Camp Secrets Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Katy Grant is a bestselling children’s fiction author from Arizona. She was brought up the youngest of three siblings in a small town of Tennessee and still remembers that her older brother Andy who was five years her senior would always pick on her. Nan who was twelve years older than her was afflicted by rheumatoid arthritis and was in a wheelchair, which meant she could not do anything to protect her sister. Nonetheless, her sister always made her feel special by saying she was a neat little kid. A few weeks after she turned ten, she lost her mother and things only became worse when her father remarried. Elisabeth her stepmother was not a great fit and the two hated each other since she wanted a girly daughter that went to parties, wore dresses, and was popular. However, Grant was a tomboy that preferred grubby sneakers and jeans and preferred riding her bike and climbing trees rather than going to parties. This caused a lot of tension as her stepmother was the perfectionist and when Katy did anything she did not as it would turn into a huge argument. Given the toxic home environment, Grant found her escape in books, which she used to enter a different world from the unhappy one that was her lot. Once she left for college, she swore never to go back until Elisabeth was exorcised and spent much of her time in summer camp during the holidays. The time she spent in summer camp provides a lot of inspiration for her novels.

Grant first thought of becoming an author as an eight-year-old. She had been reading a series of biographies of the rich and famous at the school library and that is all she remembers reading during that year. She had just finished reading the Louisa May Alcott biography when she went to her favorite tree and thought why not become a writer. She would eventually get over the biography phase but continued reading and checked out a book from the school library every week. Her favorite novels were Mary Norton’s “The Borrowers” series though she also loved “My Side of the Mountain,” “Charlotte’s Web,” “Mary Poppins,” “Stuart Little,” and the “Little House” series among many other ghost stories. She still maintains a library of the many novels that she used to read growing up. She would read many of these same books to her son when they were little and is saving them for her grandchildren. As a teen, she went to the University of Oklahoma since Nan was also attending the college as she worked to attain her doctorate. Once she was done with college, she moved to the West where she attained her master’s in an Arizona university. For years she worked teaching English at university and several community colleges. She often taught beginner composition courses but says that creative writing classes were her favorite.

Katy Grant currently lives with her husband in Arizona since her sons Ethan and Jackson are grown up and have moved out of the nest. She has said that writing children’s fiction and young adult novels is a dream that has come true.

Katy Grant’s novel “Hide and Seek” is the story of Chase a fourteen-year-old boy who lives with his two siblings, his stepfather, and his mother in Arizona. They run a convenience store and a rent a cabin business both of which are tourism-based businesses that have recently not been doing so well. The parents are considering moving back to a town his father believes they could all have better opportunities. But Chase does not want to leave as he prefers the high country. He especially loves a type of treasure hunting game known as geocaching that is played with GPS. While on one of his expeditions, he meets two brothers camped out in the desert with their father. He senses that there is something quite not right with the trio but he cannot put a finger on it. He periodically visits them hoping to learn more about them and asking if they need anything. Eventually, he learns that the father had kidnapped the two boys from their mother who was granted custody by the courts. But just as his father is deciding on their future, he has to make a monumental decision about Sam and Jack his new friends.

Katy Grant’s “Pranked” follows a twelve-year-old name Kelly Hedges a newbie camper. Even though she is a shy and nervous girl at the start, she quickly makes friends with Jennifer and Reb who are the most popular girls in her cabin that have been nicknamed the “Evil Twins.” After Kelly joins the team they become “The Terrible Triplets” and cause chaos in the camp which they like to visit on the mild mannered camp mate Melissa. Kelly soon becomes a cruel girl on the down-low with several snide comments at other camp followers, intended to endear herself to her new friends. But she gets worse over the summer and even though she is cognizant of her bad behavior, she makes all manner of excuses as the acceptance and friendship of her two friends overrides everything. But will she go along when Reb decides to cross the line in her schemes? The novel is an exploration of the nuances and layers of female adolescent relationships. Kelly analyzes popularity and how random it can be and how uplifting it can be not to be a victim but a friend of the powerful.

Katy Grant’s “Acting Out” is the story of Judith Duckworth, a woman who has been engulfed in scandal in recent weeks. She is now off to Camp Pine Haven, hoping to develop a whole new identity and to forget the scandal that had rocked her family. Once she gets on the camp bus, she is no longer Judith but a wisecracking jokester named JD with a devil may care attitude. It is not long before her antics become a conversation topic in the camp. She makes friends with the popular girls that live in her cabin but given her behavior, she also gets into trouble with the swim instructor. During the residence, she was caught sneaking off with a local lad and now worries that she may run out of lies to tell the administrators of the camp. Will she still be liked under her new identity of JD when she goes back to being Judith at the end of the summer? It is a fast-paced read about growing up, identity, and friendship.