Sport

Rating:
Summary: A terrible disappointment.
Review: "Harriet The Spy" is one of the best children's novels I've read, and the sequel, "The Long Secret," is as good if not better. "Sport," though, is not in the same league.

The biggest problem with "Sport" is that Ms. Fitzhugh doesn't understand what makes boys tick. She understands girls, and that's why "Harriett" and "Secret," both of which have female protagonists, work so well. "Sport" is not credible because the protagonist does not think or act like a 12-year-old boy.

What's especially exasperating is the way the author shows him gladly giving up his role as housekeeper when his father decides to remarry. I can believe his welcoming a stepmother, but not his willingly--indeed blissfully--subordinating himself to her, when for all his life he'd pretty much taken care of his kindly but bumbling father. No, there'd have been some TERRIBLE territorial struggles.

Sport's estranged mother, and her whole family, are excruciating stereotypes, so clumsily drawn that one has to cringe with embarrassment whenever they appear. The plot is trite and ridiculous. Sport's friends are superficially drawn and the boys are particularly unbelievable.

...

Rating:
Summary: A terrible disappointment.
Review: "Harriet The Spy" is one of the best children's novels I've read, and the sequel, "The Long Secret," is as good if not better. "Sport," though, is not in the same league.

The biggest problem with "Sport" is that Ms. Fitzhugh doesn't understand what makes boys tick. She understands girls, and that's why "Harriett" and "Secret," both of which have female protagonists, work so well. "Sport" is not credible because the protagonist does not think or act like a 12-year-old boy.

What's especially exasperating is the way the author shows him gladly giving up his role as housekeeper when his father decides to remarry. I can believe his welcoming a stepmother, but not his willingly--indeed blissfully--subordinating himself to her, when for all his life he'd pretty much taken care of his kindly but bumbling father. No, there'd have been some TERRIBLE territorial struggles.

Sport's estranged mother, and her whole family, are excruciating stereotypes, so clumsily drawn that one has to cringe with embarrassment whenever they appear. The plot is trite and ridiculous. Sport's friends are superficially drawn and the boys are particularly unbelievable.

...

Rating:
Summary: One of the best books ever for kids AND adults!
Review: I first read Sport some 7 or 8 years ago, and I loved it! I still have a copy though its worse for the wear. I cant believe it is out of print. The publisher should be ashamed. This book should be available for kids today to read because it gives a realistic impression of a young boy's hopes, wishes, disappointments, and problems with his family. The scenes with Sport and his mother are particularly scathing, with a wonderful counterbalance with his loving and warm father. I think many children face the issues Sport did as far as family goes. This book DOES NOT make everyone in the family all warm and gooey , it makes them realistic and complex, like life really is. Louise Fitzhugh, if you ever read this, you are a fantastic author and you should try very very hard to get this book republished.

Rating:
Summary: More Sport!
Review: I have been a Harriet The Spy fan for a long time, and I knew there was a sequel to the first book (called The Long Secret) which I've read. But only recently did I know there was a book about Sport, one of my favorite characters from the stories. I got this book right away...I don't know what everyone is talking about, about this book being out of print since it was easy enough for me to get, right at the bookstore.
This book is about Sport's life after his last year at The Gregory School, when he has to go to a new school. His mother (the witch that she is) comes suddenly back into his life when his grandfather departs from the world...leaving alot of money behind him. Also, his father has a new girlfriend. ;)
Sport is a GREAT book, it's an adventure that's worthy of a movie itself, however I don't believe anyone ever made one about it. :/
I think that every Harriet The Spy and/or Louise Fitzhugh fan should read this book for sure! If you haven't read Harriet The Spy, read that book and The Long Secret first. ...

Rating:
Summary: YEEAAHOO!
Review: I read Sport at school. I just finished it today and I'm sorry I did; it was one of the best books I've ever read. I'm so mad that it's out of print. I want to have it at home so I can read it even after I leave this school. If you can find it anywhere (which I doubt you will) I highly recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: Not more then OK
Review: It was a great pleasure to discover that Louise Fitzhugh has written two more books besides "Harriet the Spy" which is one of the greatest children books ever. As an adult I was thrilled to be able to reunite with all the great characters and especially with Sport, one of "Harriet the Spy" most beloved characters. This book however, was quite a let down. Not a total disappointement, as some of the parts do hold part of the magic ( I for example loved the part where Sport looks around the table to check all the good foods prepared by Kate) but not in a way that is able to overcome the flaws of this book.
I believe the best thing about "Harriet the Spy" was the fact that the characters, and especially the heroine were so unique - they were something you have never met before. There was never any heroine quite like Harriet and all the events of her tale are new and refreshing (at least in the way these events and happenings are interpreted by the heroine). This feeling does not exist when reading about Sport. The characters do not capture your heart in the same way because their portrayal is somewhat corny and stereotyped. You do feel you have read something similar before. This is especially true of Sport's mother and her sister which are as "bad" as bad can be and are therefore totally uncredible. One finds it hard to believe that the mother, even if she was acting out of pure greed would not at least try to win her son's heart or act so stupidly. I did expect characters which are rounder figures and not just "evil" - as the mother (did she have to look evil on the outside too?), or "good" as the new stepmother appears to be. The friends are also portrayed in the same manner and in spite of Fitzhugh's effort to inject some social issues (the policemen are after the black kid) the book does not rise above the level of an OK story.

Rating:
Summary: A fantastic book that has stayed with me for years
Review: Sport is a book that, when I first found it, I had absolutely no idea what it was about...I had never heard of the Harriet the Spy stories. I do remember the cover, though, and I think that's what drew me to it. Once I began to read it, though, I was drawn in competely. Quotes from the book and scenes described in it have stayed with me, and it's been at least 10 years since I've read it. I haven't been able to find it, and I've looked, because it's certain to be on my bookshelf again if ever I see it. Please...do yourself a huge favor...read Sport again and again...and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Rating:
Summary: Best of "Harriet" trilogy...
Review: When I first moved to New York, I made it a point to go to the Olde Heidelberg (now Heidelberg) for dinner because it's where Sport's father takes his girlfriend, Kate, on their first date. That was three years ago; I read "Sport" sixteen years before that. (No one has ever accused me of normal behavior.) Suffice it to say, this book remains one of my favorites. Charlotte Vane (Sport's evil, avaricious mother) remains one of the most convincing--and terrifying--villains in children's literature and, in my opinion, Sport's father, the sweet, absent-minded writer Matthew Rocque, ranks right up there with Rhett Butler and Atticus Finch as one of those fictional fellows you'd marry if he were only real. And of course, Sport himself is a gem--funny, smart, and streetwise, he's the kind of kid we all wish we once were, or still could be. An absolute must-read.