American Girls: Caroline Books in Order
Part ofKathleen Ernst Books in OrderExplore the Caroline books by Kathleen Ernst in order, with quick summaries, War of 1812 background, and help choosing your first read.
Last updated: July 4, 2026
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Publication Order
9 books
A Surprise for Caroline
by Kathleen Ernst
2012
Caroline imagines winter will be perfect with her friend Rhonda and cousin Lydia close by. Instead she feels left out, acts in haste, and learns that hurt feelings can become dangerous on a frozen lake.
Caroline Takes a Chance
by Kathleen Ernst
2012
A bold choice sends Caroline into danger just when the war feels close again. Between secret errands, a desperate search, and an unexpected discovery, she learns that taking a chance can change everything.
Caroline's Battle
by Kathleen Ernst
2012
As the fighting reaches Sackets Harbor again, Caroline has to steady herself while family, neighbors, and soldiers scramble to protect home and shipyard. War is no longer background noise. It is at her door.
Caroline's Secret Message
by Kathleen Ernst
2012
When Caroline's mother is not allowed to see Papa in British custody, Caroline takes it on herself to carry a secret message. One risky errand draws her deeper into the real costs of wartime.
Changes for Caroline
by Kathleen Ernst
2012
Caroline heads to Uncle Aaron's farm hoping to be helpful, but trouble is already there. When food starts disappearing and a thief slips through the night, she learns that right and wrong can look less simple up close.
Meet Caroline
by Kathleen Ernst
2012
Caroline Abbott loves sailing Lake Ontario with her father and helping at the family shipyard. When war with Britain erupts and her father is taken prisoner, she has to grow up fast and find her own ways to help.
Traitor in the Shipyard
by Kathleen Ernst
2013
Strange mishaps at Abbott's Shipyard make Caroline fear that a British spy is at work in Sackets Harbor. The worst part is that the suspect may be someone her father trusts.
Catch the Wind
by Kathleen Ernst
2014
This interactive adventure drops the reader into Caroline's world during the War of 1812. Alongside Caroline, you can help the Americans, uncover a possible spy, or plunge straight into danger on Lake Ontario.
The Smuggler's Secrets
by Kathleen Ernst
2015
While visiting her uncle's farm during the War of 1812, Caroline finds signs that someone is sneaking supplies to the British. She is determined to expose the smuggler, even if the truth lands painfully close to home.
Series background & context
Caroline Abbott's books are set in Sackets Harbor, New York, during the War of 1812, which gives the whole series a restless, unsettled energy. Caroline loves sailing on Lake Ontario and helping at her family's shipyard, but her childhood is interrupted fast when the war reaches home and her father is taken prisoner by the British. From there, the books follow one packed stretch of months in which ordinary family life keeps colliding with military danger.
Caroline is brave, but she is not fearless.
What makes her series work is the mix of action and home-front pressure. She carries messages, worries about her father's safety, helps her mother keep things going, copes with friendship trouble, and tries to be useful in a town that can be attacked at any moment. The main six books, from Meet Caroline through Changes for Caroline, trace that growth. The later mysteries, Traitor in the Shipyard and The Smuggler's Secrets, expand the same world through sabotage, spying, and wartime loyalties. Catch the Wind adds a playful interactive twist by sending a modern girl into Caroline's era.
The shipyard setting matters a lot. So do the lake, the harbor, and the sense that water can carry both freedom and threat. Ernst writes Caroline as a girl who wants to act, not just wait, which gives the series momentum even when the danger is mostly about uncertainty, rumor, and who can be trusted.
If you want an American Girl series with movement, high stakes, and a strong feeling for one historical place, Caroline is easy to recommend. These books are especially good for readers who like history that feels immediate, where battles, shortages, secrets, and family work are all part of the same day.
Edited by
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