I think that shows something. I needed her wisdom and she wasn't there. And I was too cool to think I needed her at that stage anyway. When I came around, I never turned back. Harriet lived as an only child in the Upper East Side in Manhattan in the s. I read Harriet the Spy for the first time as the youngest of three children in Davenport, Iowa in the s.
There were things about her story that I couldn't understand or relate to, like why anyone would need a cook and a nanny, and what the hell is an egg cream anyway? She went to a private school.
I didn't even know anyone in a private school in Davenport, Iowa. But her story is timeless - she's just a kid who wants to figure herself out and sometimes she has to be an onion. We've all had days like that. There's nothing I can say that can adequately explain my love for Harriet, and I especially can't do it right now where I'm all crummy inside and missing a thyroid.
This is a review in progress. It will never be the way I want it to be. But right now, feeling the way I do, this was another perfect time to spend with Harriet and her tomato sandwiches, to remind me that some days really do suck a big one and that it's okay to be myself and that it's not okay for anyone to take my notebooks away.
It's also a reminder that sometimes it's okay to feel mean. We were raised to be a not mean family, and while I appreciate that effort our parents made, the reality is that people are mean and that it never hurts to be able to protect oneself. Sometimes it's okay to just wake up feeling mean and it's okay to hate the stupid birds singing outside the window. Sometimes it's okay to hate our friends and it's okay to hate our lives. Just like sometimes it's okay to have to be an onion when we would rather not have to be an onion, and it's okay to have to grow up and be able to handle things on our own, and it's okay to say goodbye to Ole Golly though due to my lowered immune system and the after effects of anesthesia, I cried like a bitch during that part.
This book is full of reminders for me. But mostly it just reminds me of who I am. View all 13 comments. Jan 05, D. Dutcher rated it did not like it Shelves: children-s , bad-novels , classic. It's surprising how mean-spirited this book is. Eleven year old Harriet wants to be a spy. She writes down all of her thoughts about everyone in a notebook she always keeps on her. She also goes around town spying on as many people as she can, learning things and always, always writing down what she thinks.
This backfires tremendously when her schoolmates find her lost notebook, and read every single honest and often nasty thing she wrote about them. And just as her favorite nurse, and the only on It's surprising how mean-spirited this book is. And just as her favorite nurse, and the only one who really deals with her on any emotional level, leaves her. Can she deal with the payback?
It's a typical kid's book set-up, but it's distinguished by one of the most unlikable protagonists next to Sheila in Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great. Harriet's observations aren't just ill-mannered or rude, they hurt. This is because they are deadly accurate, and virtually everyone she knows has some kind of deep-seated issue that she spied out.
She finds the weaknesses of all of her classmates and even the adults around her with the trained eye of a writer. As a spy, she's a great one; but as a human being she's terrible. To a point, this is more the thoughtless cruelty of a child than the considered cruelty of an adult. But then, when she's discovered, she isn't really repentant. She's mean and she's hurt, but she learns nothing.
She gets bullied, and bullies back. The worst thing about it is that rather than learn empathy or the right lesson, the book ends with her having learned nothing and the horrible lesson that it's better to lie to people if you can't apologize to them and mean it.
I can't blame Harriet fully though. Virtually every adult in this book is unlikable to a degree. Sport's dad is a worthless layabout. Ole Golly is a good nurse, but a bad person; she manages Harriet, but really doesn't confide in her.
Or even care that much. Most of the adult portrayals save for the man with twenty-seven cats are negative in some manner. Harriet is a child who is outside the world as an observer. No one ever seems to truly bring her inside some place, and I think this is what created the thoughtless, hurting, and even mean child that she is.
It makes for an unsettling book for those of us who read it late in life. Like a children's version of those interminable adult literary novels where everyone hates each other and you get depressed after reading it.
You dislike Harriet's thoughts, because any empathy in them towards others is dangerously absent. But you also dislike the payback she gets, because she's obviously in pain and it also makes her even nastier to have the sole things in the world that she draws pleasure from earlier, Ole Golly, later, her notebook taken away from her.
And you dislike the lack of lesson at the end, because Harriet needs to change and become human. She needs to grow if just to save herself. I am not kidding. She was my heroine. Now let's see, vegetables first, vegetables Miss Elson pulled him back by the ear. Pinky Whitehead arrived back. Miss Berry turned to him, enchanted. But to yourself you mus Life-changing. But to yourself you must always tell the truth. View all 4 comments. One of my favorite pre-teen books. View all 8 comments.
Jun 30, Jenny Baker rated it liked it Shelves: childrens , audiobooks , This is one of those rare moments when the movie is better than the book. The movie is so cute! Now that I've read the book, I want to rewatch the movie. A booktuber who decided to go back and read old childhood favorites to see if they held up inspired me to do the same.
I was fairly outraged by her depiction of Harriet as the most vile child protagonist on earth. Not the cute smart little Harriet from my memories! So I decided to pick it up and give it a go. First surprise was that the book was pages. Not the little thin book I was expecting. Now, to be fair. I hardly remember anything about this book, other than the fact that when I was younger this book caused me to want to carry around my own notebook. More than a desire to be a spy, it was about wanting to be a writer, but even more than even that it was about my ever present even in youth love for notebooks.
So I insisted on getting the same sort of black and white composition notebooks that she used in the movie, and did my best to emulate her. I read the book, I know I did, but I have basically no memory of it. She was downright wicked. Something to teach her a little empathy! But no. I honestly thought she was possibly sociopathic. Hariett got it into her head somewhere along the way that she wants to be a spy. In short: spy stuffs. It is usually almost always something to do with how ugly or fat somebody is, how repulsive, how boring, the pimple on their nose, how she wants to hit or kick somebody, you get the gist.
Not a single nice or pleasant thing to be found anywhere even about those closest to her. When her best friend Sport proudly shows Harriet his secret stash of "CPA stuff" cuz he says he wants to be a CPA and explains how he is responsible for his and his father's finances, forced to take his father's checks weekly and budget for the two of them, otherwise his father will simply spend it all immediately and they won't eat that week.
She leaves his house and immediately begins her musings in her notebook. What makes somebody rich? What makes somebody poor? Is she rich or is she poor? This doesn't exactly sound like the 11 year old she's supposed to be but rather the childish musings of a 4 or 5 year old. I realize that this may be in fact a social commentary on the lives of sheltered and privileged rich kids, but I myself was sheltered and privileged and I can tell you that at 11 years old I was more than able to grasp such very basic concepts such as "rich" and "poor" and the fact that money was what made you either one of these.
When Harriet's notebook is ultimately taken from her, and all her heartless, unsympathetic thoughts read aloud for all the students in her class to hear, including those referring to her best friends Sport and Janie, Harriet is once again wholly incapable of producing a single iota of remorse or empathy.
She is instead indignant at the breach of privacy never mind the fact the entire basis of said notebook is literally about invading everyone else's privacy, but we won't dwell on that for too long because if Harriet is unable to conclude on her own that remorse should be the prevailing sentiment in this situation then she most certainly will not be able to understand anything about the hypocrisy of her actions. She seems a bit lost, confused even as to why she incited the wrath of her classmates and seems to believe that their anger will dissipate quickly and her life return to normal.
Another example of Harriet showcasing borderline sociopathic tendencies. I think back on my 11 year old self and think on how I might've handled this situation had I been in her shoes. And one thing I know for sure is that at 11 years old I would have been fully capable of understanding 1.
That what I had said was positively atrocious and 2. That I owed everyone, especially my friends an apology.
At that age I would have been old enough to understand that Sport's home life was unfortunate, I would have had the capacity for not just understanding but for empathy and sadness over my friend's situation, and if I had done and said the things she did I would have had the decency and ability to feel wracked with guilt over the hurt I had caused somebody that I loved and cared for. And naturally, or one would think I would have felt regret and remorse, and been consumed with little else beyond making my apologies and doing my best to repair feelings and relationships.
That's me tho, and any other normal little girl. Harriet on the other hand is completely clueless, the idea of apologizing doesn't even make an appearance in her thoughts. Instead all she does is procure another notebook, continue to do the things that have gotten her into the position she's in a.
Mean spirited. Just nasty. But one is only on its way to becoming the other, and Harriet is already half way there. I have no doubt Harriet has a future that consists of problems maintaining healthy connections and relationships with a potential personality disorder diagnosis in her future.
The ending comes and goes without any growth from Harriet whatsoever. She thinks only of herself and never lends so much as a single thought to her friends and the pain she has caused them, remorse and regret seem to feelings she is incapable of, and her very nature is cruel, sadistic and mean spirited.
I really did not want to revel in the bullying of a child, no matter how much she deserved it, but the spiteful part of me could not help wanting to see Harriet punished. I think I hoped that she would have an a-ha, come to the light moment and finally feel the remorse she so strangely seemed incapable of feeling. I thought maybe in witnessing her classmates forgiveness, it might dawn on her that people have hidden depths and worthwhile traits even as they might also be fat or have pimples.
None of this happens. Harriet throws tantrums, screams, is vile and cruel, she is downright ruthless and feels zero remorse for ANYTHING, and she learns absolutely nothing other than she must occasionally lie and pretend to be sorry in order not to be inconvenienced. She carries on with her notebook, her spying, and her stunningly innate cruelty, and that is the end. I really could not make sense of what the author was trying to do here. I find it hard to believe that in reading one of my old child favorites I found one of my most hated protagonists but that is the truth.
I very likely would have purchased this book for my child one day had I not re-read this! But knowing what I know now, I absolutely would NOT want my child reading this and thinking that this was an acceptable way to behave, or behavior to laugh at. In her own way, she was very principled and determined.
Steadfastly true to herself. She was literally unapologetically herself. Whether or not a child is consciously aware of what is appealing about Harriet, a natural gravitation towards a misfit rebel type is understandable. Somebody with the strength to resist the temptation to conform. This, I can understand. But beyond that I really struggle to look past her heartlessness and cruelty.
She might offer a reader a rebel to align themselves with, but her cruelty and callousness are really her defining traits. Having compassion for others is something that we should all hope to have innately, and that should be what is truly at the core of misfit and rebel stories. Compassion and love and acceptance for everyone, including even the misfits and the rebels.
I remember once at a wedding I went to, the stepmother of the bride was in a huff over some previous slight. I gently explained that there is a difference between being fake, and being polite. Most adults come to understand this at some point. Harriet never seems to reach this conclusion.
Regardless of whether or not the ostracized Harriet is relatable, it should be pointed out that her expulsion from classroom politics came about as a result of her own actions. These are the consequences of her own actions and this should not be forgotten simply because she is then forced to stand alone.
Just ugh. Dec 08, Alex rated it it was amazing Shelves: Harriet the Spy was one of my very favorites when I was young; I'm happy to cede the World's Biggest Harriet Fan crown to El, but I was pretty amped to run across this at a stoop sale.
When I first read it - possibly also when I second read it - I immediately started carrying my own notebook around and writing in it all the time. Everyone did, right? I got in super trouble for that, too, because my fourth grade teacher - I think it was fourth? And this is why teachers who don't read books are at a disadvantage.
It holds up wonderfully, and that's nice. It's still a book with great insight into how kids work, and not a little insight into adults while we're at it. Anyway, the other central message is that writing is a great way to explore one's feelings and exercise one's brain, and that really stuck with me, to the point where nowadays I pretend to write book reviews just so I can ramble about my fourth grade teacher.
I don't remember her name but she was not great. You know what, I'm pretty sure I came out better than she did. I wonder if she's dead. She might be. Harriet's a tough nut: weird and terrifyingly bright and given to breaking and entering. And perhaps gay. I was of course not a weird kid, I was perfect, but if I had been weird, this book would have given me a lot of great ideas for how to handle my weirdness, and it would have done the same for my mom, and I would say this is a pretty good book to read no matter what level of weirdness you and yours are at.
This was a deep favorite of my friend El's, and we bonded hard over our mutual love for it. We bonded hard over a lot of things. I stumbled across this review today and saw that the first thing I did was link to El's review. I do that a lot - my reviews are littered with links to El's reviews. I want these to be entertaining, and often the most entertaining thing I can do is to link to El.
We won't get any more reviews from El. But she did get to no less than of them before she died, so that's not bad. Once again, this is what she sounded like. May 14, Mandy McHenry rated it did not like it Shelves: books-for-kids. Seriously, what is the big deal about it? I never read it as a kid, but it was on a list of "Books about Brave Girls" and I thought that we'd give it a go for a read aloud with my girls.
In fact, in the end she comes right out and says that she should just LIE! We had a good discussion at the end of how we should NOT act like Harriet, and how disappointed we were in this book. Lame, lame, lame! Dec 28, Sara rated it it was amazing Shelves: classic-young-adult. Louise Fitzhugh was one of those rare children's book authors who actually understood what it meant to be a child, what the world seen through those eyes actually looks like.
Welsh is right up there with Scout Finch and Francie Nolan as one of the all time great child heroines in literature. She is whip smart, casually cruel, constantly shouting weird nonsense, frustrating, brilliant and always, always surprising. She's a self styled "spy" who basically stalks her neighbors, family an Louise Fitzhugh was one of those rare children's book authors who actually understood what it meant to be a child, what the world seen through those eyes actually looks like.
But when her classmates find her notebook and read the things she has to say about them Harriet finds herself the target of wrathful retribution. Suddenly she is one constantly being watched. Will she have to give up spying for good? This is one of my favorite books to revisit. There's something equal parts charming and terrible about Harriet's world. Its one of privilege where she's raised by her beloved nanny Ol' Golly possibly the weirdest and greatest nanny in children's lit ever written.
Take that Mary Poppins. She attends an elite private school and her interactions with her parents always seem to happen at a distance, they're always on their way to a party or too distracted to really hear Harriet when she talks to them. There's a sadness to her life that makes her spying understandable.
Its like the only way she knows how to be close to people is by staying at a distance and watching. Harriet's imperfections are also what makes her stand out. She's seriously fucking obnoxious a lot of the time, which is clearly intentional. She's loud, super rude, and soooo judgmental. Weirdly rather than make her impossible to like all this makes her even more lovable. This is what I was like as a child! Kids have no filters, no guile, and very little sense of responsibility.
This book is ABOUT a child beginning to understand that actions have consequences, that poorly chosen words hurt people and as Ol' Golly puts it at one point "sometimes you have to lie. Harriet's hilarious rehearsal for the school play where she plays an onion and has to work out how an onion "feels" resulting in a hilarious interpretative dance around her parents bedroom. Harriet hiding in a dumbwaiter while she spies on a woman who's decided never to leave her bed again.
Harriet yelling for a tomato sandwich and barreling into the cook after school demanding cake and milk. I remember the wonderful pictures too. Fitzhugh is also responsible for the pen and ink drawings of Harriet and her friends.
The spindly and sternly beautiful Ol' Golly, Harriet lying in the bathtub covered in ink after an incident at school, Harriet as an onion rolling on the floor, Harriet with her spy tool belt ready to go on her "route.
Fitzhugh captures childhood with this book and its companion The Long Secret and Sport with all its contradictions and imagination and innocence and rage. She captures it perfectly. Jul 02, Ross Blocher rated it liked it. I did not read Harriet the Spy as a young adult, as many others have, but I can recognize that Louise Fitzhugh did an amazing job of capturing the drama and fixations of childhood.
Harriet is destined to be a spy, or at least a writer, and obsessively takes notes on everyone around her: her opinions of them and what they're up to. She sneaks into others' houses and back alleys and overhears conversations, all to fill up her notebook.
This all goes south when [I will warn of a spoiler, but the sy I did not read Harriet the Spy as a young adult, as many others have, but I can recognize that Louise Fitzhugh did an amazing job of capturing the drama and fixations of childhood.
This all goes south when [I will warn of a spoiler, but the synopsis here on Goodreads says as much] Harriet momentarily abandons her notebook and her friends find it and read it. They quickly discover what we've known all along: Harriet has something mean and hurtful to say about each and every one of them.
Once she's ostracized, Harriet must figure out how to return her life to normalcy. Fitzhugh's writing is great, the observations are keen, and it's fun to get into the wry mind of the protagonist, all except for one problem Harriet is a horrible little human being. Her classmates find it and read it, and are absolutely appalled by her brutally honest observations about them.
For example, she states that Sport is like a little old woman because he is in charge of cleaning and cooking at home—this is because his mother left and his father is preoccupied with getting his novel published, so his best friend's observations deeply hurt Sport's feelings.
Harriet's classmates, Sport and Janie included, form a Spycatcher Club whose chief purpose is to think of ways to make Harriet's life miserable. They steal her lunch, spill ink on her and pass notes about her to each other. Harriet spies on the club through a back fence and in turn creates vengeful ways in which to punish them. She knows that she is paying the price for what she wrote, but still wants to punish her classmates for their reaction, as she is very hurt and lonely.
After getting into trouble for carrying out some of the punishments she had thought of, Harriet decides to try to resume her friendship with Sport and Janie as if nothing ever happened. Both reject her overtures of friendship so Harriet devotes all of her time to writing in her notebook, even writing during class as part of her plan to punish the Spycatcher Club. Harriet skips school and spends days in bed at home, growing depressed, and because she is not paying attention to her schoolwork, her grades suffer.
This leads her parents to confiscate her notebook, but this only serves to make Harriet even more depressed. Harriet's mother takes her to see a psychiatrist who advises them to contact Ole Golly and ask her to write Harriet a letter. Ole Golly writes to Harriet, telling her that if anyone reads her notebook she will have to do one of two things—but won't like either one of them.
Either she will have to apologize, or she will have to lie. Otherwise she will lose her friends. Meanwhile, there is dissent within Spy Catcher Club; self-appointed Class Queen Bee Marion and her best friend Rachel are in charge and dictate everything that happens, and very quickly Janie and Sport become tired of being bossed around.
When they decide to leave the club, most of their friends do the same. Harriet's parents speak with her teachers and the school principal, and it is decided that Harriet will replace Marion as Editor of the class newspaper. The newspaper features stories about her fellow students' parents, and the people she sees daily on her spy route.
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