Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Harriet the Spy
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.
Book Review: An Exciting Book that Happens in New York City
Summary: 5 Stars
The book is a novel about a girl named Harriet and her two best friends Sport and Beth Ellen. Harriet is a spy. She wants to write about everyone. She writes about her friends and classmates too. But Harriet loses her notebook and all her friends read all the good and bad stuff she wrote about them. Will she ever see her notebook again? Well, I am not going to tell you so read the book your self to find out!
It all happens in New York City on the East side in a fancy apartment building. I think Louise Fitzhugh is trying to say that you should not write about your friends in a mean way or maybe they will not be your friends any more. I love this book and I hope you like it too. I like the middle where everything exciting happens but I will not tell you because it gives it away the ending. But I will say that it is one of my favorite books and that some of the entries are so funny. Here is an example: "I bet that lady weighs 100 pounds and is a super model and feels terrible with not that munch food!"
And that's all I am going to tell you! This book is 300 pages so I think that people between the ages of 7-100 who love spies would like this book the most!
by Elizabeth
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: 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: BORING, abandoned
Summary: 1 Stars
WHen I opened this book it was so boring and downright 2-year-oldish, that I abandoned it and didn't read the rest. It seemed utterly stupid, and though very small children may like the idea, i practically fell asleep.....and it wasn't because of the thickness. I've read thicker. I hope Louise Fitzhugh has some better books out there.....
I RECOMMEND:
dragon rider
the secret garden
arthur and the invisibles
artemis fowl series
midnight blue