Harriet the Spy
by Louise Fitzhugh
|
List Price: Our Price: $3.51 You Save: $3.48 (50%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Harriet the Spy
Book Review: A Story of a Brat with Very Little Action
Summary: 2 Stars
Here's another book from four decades ago that doesn't hold up well compared to today's superior children's books. I was yearning for way more action. And definitely more wackiness. There are a few wacky and clever happenstances yet I wanted more of that and less of Harriet sitting around thinking, complaining and writing, thinking, writing and complaining. The first half of the book was okay, but after that I lost interest. Harriet was not interesting enough, for me anyway, to care about what happened to her. The pages got harder and harder to turn as the book went on.
This is a work of the early 1960s when many people felt suppressed and angry. That anger, for some, turned into selfishness. This attitude found its way into Harriet. She is a selfish and angry brat. (Whether the author was angry or just commenting on society at the time, I don't know.)
I can only guess that the book's comment on society at the time is what won it the acclaim that it has gotten over the years. For children and adults of 1964, perhaps it was a groundbreaking, gutsy read. But today, it's just a story of an angry, self-centered child that is not very interesting nor exciting to read.
Book Review: As good as a tomato sandwich on a summer day
Summary: 5 Stars
When I was a child, my mother took me to a used book sale because I was devouring books faster than my parents' could afford to replenish them. I remember seeing a 1970's paperback edition of "Harriet the Spy" on a stack of books, and thought the girl on the cover, illustrated in that scratchy, inky style of Fitzhugh's, was the oddest girl I'd ever seen. My mom bought it for about 25 cents.
The moment I began reading this book, I knew it was different from the other children's books. I wasn't sure why, but it even made me FEEL different. Like I was being talked to as if I were an adult. This woman, Louise Fitzhugh, didn't feel the need to sugarcoat things. The characters are flawed, sad, disappointed, ornery, rich, poor, ugly, and completely identifiable. This book is full of heartache, but it has a lot of happiness and hope in it, too. And I promise your children can handle the heavy parts.
Now I'm 28 and this book continues to resonate with me. Rereading it, I've discovered even more depth in the story, but I'll always be grateful that I first read it as a child, when the impact means so much more.
And tomato sandwiches continue to be my favorite.
Book Review: The Spy named Harriet
Summary: 5 Stars
"Could Ole Golly have a family, how could she have a mother and a father? She is too old." Harriet the Spy by L. Fitzhugh takes place in Harriet's neighborhood. Harriet writes about her nanny Ole Golly mostly. Harriet is the protagonist who wants to be a writer when she grows up she writes mean things about her friends and family. Later on she looses her notebook. Will her friends find her notebook and the mean things she wrote about them?Harriet the spy is funny and intriguing book because it makes you want to read it. The author shows this book to be intriguing because a 10 year old girl is sneaking into peoples houses and writing about them in her note book. You should read this book because it is descriptive. The author shows that because you can see an image of her sneaking into people's houses. You also should read this book because the style of the story is creative. The author shows that it is creative by using dialogue, things she wrote in her notebook, and even letters which help the reader understand the story better.
Now you have read the reasons and explanations, get out of your chair and read this book!
Book Review: Works On Many Levels
Summary: 5 Stars
Harriet The Spy was one of my favorites growing up and I had not read it in a long time and looking back I am not quite sure if all of the messages and meanings in the book can be fully understood by younger readers completely.
That is not meant in a bad way at all, the book works as a general reading book for younger more advanced readers in terms of the plot and Harriet as she goes through her life and journal, together with the ramifications of what those bring when the journal is discovered.
Of course young readers can relate to the feelings and the alienation, but there are so many messages that are being converyed that some of the them become clearer to see as you get a bit older - in other words this works for young readers on one or more levels and as an adult you can read it and see more of the depth of the messages being told.
For younger readers, it may be a good idea to read this first so you can be prepared to speak with the issues and questions that can be raised and to help guide them along in learning how to read and interpret what is going on.
Book Review: Almost there...
Summary: 3 Stars
I'm going against the grain by not saying I am completely thrilled by this book. I think the real problems lies in the fact that I read this book as an adult and not a child. Don't get me wrong... Harriet is a great young female character, especially considering the era she was first written in. She's unabashedly smart, clever, creative, independent, goal-oriented, and realistically complex. Her story is believable, and I am sure these are reasons why the book appeals to people. This book is also humorous and very well written.I guess the only reason this book leaves a slightly bad taste, for me, is that it is lacking in compassion, in real heart. Harriet hurts people through her actions and really does not seem to learn a lesson in the long run. The dangerous lesson I feel I got from this novel isn't about how to treat people, but rather to tell people what they want to hear and to do what you will, just don't get caught.
This story really is worth reading, especially for girls, but I warn that maybe a little supervision is needed to add a little kindness to an otherwise worthy story.