Kat’s Promise
By: Bonnie Shimko
Realistic fiction



Kat’s Promise is set in a city called Ellensville in present day. Kat is a 12-year-old girl who has to go live with her wealthy, cruel aunt. When Kat’s mom died, Kat has no choice but to live with her aunt whom she hates. Kat has to live with her aunt because Paulina was Kat’s only living relative until she found out later that she had another living relative. Kat hates her aunt because she thinks her aunt Paulina caused her mom’s death.

In Kat’s Promise, Kat has to learn to survive living with her cruel aunt that she hates a lot. Kat hates her aunt so much, that she wouldn’t even care if her aunt died. “Before I go to sleep at night in my Aunt Paulina’s house, I wish that God would strike her dead”. Kat’s Promise written by Bonnie Shimko is told from Kat’s point of view. Since it’s written from Kat’s point of view, the reader understands how much Kat hates her aunt. Shimko also lets the reader know why Kat hates her aunt so much. Shimko doesn’t just make Kat hate her aunt for no reason. The reader learns why Kat hates her aunt so much through Kat’s thoughts and also through her aunt’s actions.

Shimko’s novel immediately grabs the reader’s attention, when in the first paragraph Kat is already talking about how much she dislikes her aunt. Readers won’t want to put the book down because they will be curious to see how Kat survives living with a person she absolutely does not like. This novel also grabs the reader’s attention because in the first few paragraphs, Kat also thinks of ways her aunt could die, but deaths that would look like they were accidents. Kat’s Promise is similar to the Shadow Children series by Margaret Peterson Haddix. In the Shadow Children series, Luke is an illegal third child that has to learn to live away from his family in a new environment in order to be safe. In Kat’s Promise, Kat has to learn to live away from home and her mom because her mom died. Kat also has to learn to live in a different place than she is used to living in, but Kat has to live in her aunt’s house so she doesn’t end up homeless. Fans of realistic fiction books will really enjoy reading Kat’s Promise.