Harriet the Spy
- Book Review,
by Louise Fitzhugh
Amazon.com
Ages 8-12. Thirty-two years before it was made into a movie, Harriet the Spy was a groundbreaking book: its unflinchingly honest portrayal of childhood problems and emotions changed children's literature forever. Happily, it has neither dated nor become obsolete and remains one of the best children's novels ever written. The fascinating story is about an intensely curious and intelligent girl, who literally spies on people and writes about them in her secret notebook, trying to make sense of life's absurdities. When her classmates find her notebook and read her painfully blunt comments about them, Harriet finds herself a lonely outcast. Fitzhugh's writing is astonishingly vivid, real and engaging, and Harriet, by no means a typical, loveable heroine, is one of literature's most unforgettable characters. School Library Journal wrote, "a tour de force... bursts with life." The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books called it "a very, very funny story." And The Chicago Tribune raved, "brilliantly written... a superb portrait of an extraordinary child."
From School Library Journal
Grade 3-5-Harriet is determined to become a famous author. In the meantime, she practices by following a regular spy route each day and writing down everything she sees in her secret notebook. Her life is turned upside down when her classmates find her notebook and read it aloud!. By Louise Fitzhugh. Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Parents' Choice®
Youthful-voiced stage and screen actress Anne Bobby gives an expressive reading of Louise Fitzhugh's vivid novel about a spirited young girl who prepares for her future as a writer by spying on neighbors and strangers, and learns some life lessons in the process. A 1999 Parents' Choice® Recommendation. (Lynne Heffley, Parents' Choice®)
From AudioFile
Harriet wants to be a writer, so she writes down in her notebook everything she sees and hears on her daily "spy route." She innocently piles up details about her friends and neighbors. All is well until her notebook is discovered by her classmates and read aloud, and Harriet must deal with the consequences of her spying. In this reading Anne Bobby is especially adept at maintaining Harriet's kid voice, even though the novel is not told in the first person. She switches voices well, especially among the kids, so the readers can keep them straight. Beyond that, she keeps the pace of her reading moving along smoothly. P.B.J. (c) AudioFile, Portland, Maine
Midwest Book Review
Harriet is determined to be a famous author when she grows up: central to her plans is the keeping of a notebook of candid observations of those around her. She stakes out a spy route and carefully records her findings, only to find her world changed when classmates find and read her notebook. Disaster threatens.
Book Description
Harriet M. Welsch is a spy. In her notebook, she writes down everything she knows about everyone, even her classmates and her best friends. Then Harriet loses track of her notebook, and it ends up in the wrong hands. Before she can stop them, her friends have read the always truthful, sometimes awful things she’s written about each of them. Will Harriet find a way to put her life and her friendships back together?
Card catalog description
Eleven-year-old Harriet keeps notes on her classmates and neighbors in a secret notebook, but when some of the students read the notebook, they seek revenge.
From the Inside Flap
Harriet M. Welsch is a spy. In her notebook, she writes down everything she knows about everyone, even her classmates and her best friends. Then Harriet loses track of her notebook, and it ends up in the wrong hands. Before she can stop them, her friends have read the always truthful, sometimes awful things she’s written about each of them. Will Harriet find a way to put her life and her friendships back together?
From the Trade Paperback edition.
About the Author
Louise Fitzhugh's children's books have been acclaimed as milestones of children's literature.
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