Harriet the Spy
by Louise Fitzhugh
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Book Reviews of Harriet the Spy
Book Review: A tried and true classic!
Summary: 5 Stars
Boy, the fun one has when they decide to re-read as many books from childhood as possible! The image of this book is forever etched in my brain. It was a present from my grandmother. I remember, at age 8, wondering if I would ever be able to finish such a thick book. I managed and loved it so much that I was delighted to know that there was another Harriet book entitled "The Long Secret" and read that as well.
I went through life from age 8 to the present age of 30 remembering the book "Harriet the Spy" as a book about a girl who lives in New York City who spies on people in the neighborhood and takes notes. I remember her having a nasty edge to her and that everyone got angry with her upon discovering her notebook with her writings. What a difference 22 years makes!
Harriet M. Welsch is the child of socialites who don't appear to be around a great deal. She is usually left in the care of her beloved nanny Ole Golly, a very wise, well-read woman who frequently offers Harriet advice about life and how to behave. Despite her sternness, it is clear how much she cares for Harriet and vice versa. Harriet likes to spend her free time spying on neighbors, taking catty (but often accurate) notes about her observations. Soon, though, Harriet's world as she knows it comes crumbling down. First Ole Golly is let go and then her classmates read her notebook and find out what she REALLY thinks of them. How does Harriet deal with the changes? Well you'll just have to read the book yourself.
As an adult, I seem to be able to read much more into this book than when I read it as an eight-year-old. Now that I actually live in NYC, I *see* children who are a lot like Harriet, whereas the semi-rural Canadian upbringing I experienced as a child was nothing like Manhattan! It is also interesting to note the parallel to Harriet's life with the author's own life. When you read a bio on Louise Fitzhugh, you can see remarkable similarities to her story and that of Harriet. I am now also able to realize why Harriet acts the way that she does and empathize with her.
All in all, it's a very eye-opening experience to re-read favorite books from childhood. I certainly recommend reading Harriet the Spy again!
Book Review: Are you comfortable with books that make you think?
Summary: 5 Stars
When I was 9 I was finally moved up to the advanced reading group in my class. In order to catch up, I had to read Harriet the Spy in its entirety over Thanksgiving break. I was extremely dismayed, I had never even seen a book so big, much less read one! But, I devoured it in two days. I didn't live in New York and I had never kept a journal, but everything that happened in the book was completely familiar. It was, I think, the first work of literature I had ever read on my own.
Skip ahead 14 years. I reread this book in my local library on a lazy Saturday afternoon. I loved it, but I can understand the qualms expressed by some parents about the book The question is: What is the point of having children read - is it to present them with 2-dimensional models of correct behavior, or else to provoke their thinking, reasoning, and analytical skills? I think it's very telling that a reviewer who gave this book one star literally threw it into the fireplace - this is the type of book that people who hate books burn.
People criticize Harriet for being rude or mean, but I think they are a little off base there. Harriet is a smart 11 year old, but she is an 11 year old just the same. Assigning adult motives and value judgments to her behavior is flat-out unfair. She's just a kid, and this is how kids behave, not when you're around, but on the playground and in the classroom where they are discovering peer interaction.
In fact, this is a very moral story. Harriet learns that there are reasons for lying - it isn't being hypocritical (as adults often do seem to children) but rather to spare other peoples' feelings - sometimes it's better to be kind than to be truthful. Watch the way Harret interacts with her friend Sport: she learns for the first time to show consideration for other peoples' feelings - not because you will get punished, but because they will get hurt, and you do not want to hurt the people you care about, even though so often you inadvertently do. This is a complicated message that the target audience (kids 9-12) are learning IN REAL LIFE which is why the book resonates with so many readers of that age (and beyond).
Book Review: Excellent for the precocious child in your life
Summary: 4 Stars
Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
Harper & Row, 1964
298 pages
MG; Contemporary
4/5 stars
Summary: Harriet M Welsch maintains a notebook in which she keeps notes of all the people she observes because she wants to be a spy when she grows up. But problems erupt when her schoolmates discover the novel and the things she wrote about them.
Thoughts: I had attitude about this book due to the movie which I didn't think looked interesting (I've never seen the film-just trailers) and the fact that Mallory Pike of the BSC once wanted to act like her and I hated Mallory.
The first part of the story is actually more focused on Harriet's nanny Ole Golly and just setting the stage. I actually preferred the story once Ole Golly leaves but Harriet suffers a bit seeing the person who understands her leave. Her parents don't understand her writing but Ole Golly told her about spies and encouraged her to write.
The second part of the story revolves around the classmates discovering Harriet's novel where she wrote a lot of mean-spirited observations, such as why a friend doesn't have a dad and how another friend couldn't become a scientist, who was she fooling, etc. I had little sympathy for Harriet at this part; she couldn't understand why they were hurt and angry and retaliated. For someone who is so smart, she had a serious lack of understanding here.
Luckily, the book resolves with a hopeful ending. Harriet learns to think more critically about her writing and receives a new opportunity to practice it. She also becomes reconciled with her two best friends and the future looks more hopeful.
[I agree with her classmates that a tomato and mayo sandwich sounds awful but Harriet loves them; I do admire her routine of having it every day for about six years though.]
Overall: Okay story; maybe I would identify more if I was a writer? As it is, I'm only a reader but a voracious one at that.
Book Review: THE PRICE OF FRIENDSHIP
Summary: 3 Stars
Eleven-year-old Harriet M. Welsch experiences stormy
days in 6th grade as a result of her habit/hobby/obsession:
writing down her thoughts and observations in a notebook all during the day. Not just on her after-school Spy Route (when she snoops through windows and even sneaks into private homes to ferret out information about her adult neighbors). Oh no, but during the schoolday in her actual classroom--when she should be concentrating on lessons or doing her work. But for Harriet keeping a Notebook IS her work--one which she relishes.
Disaster occurs when her famous notebook accidentally is lost and then read aloud by her classmates, who are anything but flattered or amused by her juvenile commentary. In fact there ensues a nasty social revolt; Harriet is so discomfited by the peer hostility that her desperate parents send her to a professional child psychologist. This rather long YA book is divided into two parts: Book one depicts her critical relationship with her matronly, non-nonsense nanny--Ole Golly. Book two shows the girl without this towering influence in her young life. We sympathize with Harriet's struggle to accept the sudden loss of this mentor in literature and social behavior. Perhaps she was too dependent on her nanny, but the sidden, harsh separation undermined her foundation of common sense.
This story should appeal to elementary children since it examines group dynamics and school situations. Fitzhugh subtly suggests the importance of writing and the responsibility of authors. How to balance truthful reportage with consideration to others? Are lies justified to recover lost friendships? Is a public retraction too humiliating? Kids will relate to Harriet's increasing shunning, as well as be amused by her desperate measures to prove herself independent and unbowed regarding her Journaling mania; Harriet learns the Power and the Peril of the Pen!
Book Review: Serious worldview problems amidst good writing
Summary: 1 Stars
I just finished listening to this book with our two sons age 8 and 9. The writing style was very descriptive and well developed (with the exception of the conclusion), however the book overall has serious problems in approach. Harriet is a mean-spirited little girl who sees very little in reality of consequences. She sees the negative in most everything and when caught in this trap of jaundiced eye (and pen), rather than being held accountable for her acts and brought to better resolution, she is allowed to go on getting meaner and meaner. The other children respond also meanly. The portrayal of others is very derogatory. We spent many sessions discussing what was wrong with Harriets positions and perspectives as we went through the book. She is compulsive and obsessive and is in serious grief over the loss of her nurse. These issues were completely glossed over. Her mother and father are rather disassociated with her life and caught up in their own lives to her detriment. Raising good kids takes good input and parenting. That does not get portrayed in this book. The conclusion of the book is not well executed and the portrayal of family life is very negative. If you want a book that will rob your kids of their childhood perspective, this is it. If you want a book that is more an adult study in disfunctional children in a disfunctional world populated by disfunctional adults, this is it. After reading this book, it is obvious to me why the 60s and 70s became a child-rearing society that created the greed, personal lack of accountability, and negativism in the young adults of the 80s, 90s, and new century. Values do matter and are shaped heavily in this age range of readers. Reading other reviews on Amazon, by people who claim this book brought them encouragement to become writers, shows to me why todays literature is so devoid of values, hope, and goodness.