Harriet Spies Again
by Louise Fitzhugh, Helen Ericson

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Book Reviews of Harriet Spies Again

Book Review: Average Sequel to An Excellent Series
Summary: 3 Stars

"Harriet the Spy" takes place when Harriet, Sport et al. are in sixth grade. It ends at some point during the sixth grade year.

"The Long Secret" takes place the summer after sixth grade, when Harriet gets to know Beth Ellen really well during their summer vacation.

"Sport" starts just prior to their seventh grade year and continues until mid-school-year. Here is where the real problem lies. Sport has to go to a new school for seventh grade because their old school is all-girls from that point on. In the book "Sport," he is attending his new school and has a few good friends there. Also in "Sport," his divorced father finds a girlfriend, Kate. By the end of the book they are married and Kate moves into the apartment with Sport and his dad.

Then we pick up "Harriet Spies Again" which otherwise is a reasonable book to succeed to this series. This book also starts out just before seventh grade - because Harriet and Sport are discussing what his new school will be like - yet his father has already married Kate. Also, after the seventh-grade school year starts, Harriet and Sport have a conversation about his school and he complains that he has no friends there.

If the author of this book had taken care to blend this story line with the lines of Fitzhugh's original works, this would have gotten probably four stars. But I spent so much time wrangling with this timeline in my head that I often found myself having to reread parts of this book because my mind had wandered.

Ericson catches the tone of Harriet rather well, and the reappearance of Ole Golly provides a very intriguing mystery for Harriet and Sport to solve. However, the subplot of the girl who lives across the street is exceedingly transparent (if you don't pick up on her scheming right away, you are probably under the recommended reading age for this book).

I recommend this as a library read or for very dedicated fans of Harriet (as I am) who would like a little more story about her.

Classics by Age Books

• Books > Subjects > Children's Books
• Mysteries & Detectives