Rating: 
Summary: I'VE LOVED THIS SINCE I WAS EIGHT -- SPY ON THIS BOOK!
Review: This wonderful book had a strong, female protagonist who was clearly intelligent and eloquent. Harriet eavesdrops, peers through windows and skylights and records her impressions in a notebook. She has regular "spying" stops in the Upper East Side Manhattan neighborhood where she lives. She knows quite a bit about the people in her neighborhood, thanks to her observant nature.Harriet is a student at the prestigious Gregory School, where she has an assortment of friends -- scientific, aggressive Janie, meek, retiring Beth-Ellen and a fun loving boy called Sport. When Harriet's notebook falls into the hands of her classmates, problems arise big time. Harriet has a baptism in fire trying to redeem herself in their eyes. Meanwhile, Harriet's nanny is leaving to get married, her formerly disinterested parents are pushing more into her life and lastly, Harriet herself is maturing. I loved this book so much as a child and do today. This book even inspired me and countless others to keep a notebook. It was a book about the empowerment of a strong female character.
Rating:
Summary: Various Things
Review: When I was in the the 3rd grade, my teacher read a variety of books to us in class, one of which being Harriet The Spy. I can honestly say it changed my life. I was new in this class (I arrived in March of that year, 1990) and felt very lonely. Harriet's alienation from her classmates was something I could relate to. I loved the book then and I love it now. It was first read to me ten years ago (almost to the day) and I decided to become a writer after experiencing the book (way back in 3rd grade). I love this book and The Long Secret. Harriet The Spy deals almost exclusively with Harriet and her emotions while The Long Secret focuses a bit more on Beth Ellen and her perceptions of the world (including those of Harriet, which are certainly interesting). I love these books. I used to spy on my neighbors all the time when I was a kid and keep spy notebooks. I'd recommend Harriet The Spy and The Long Secret to anyone since they're kids books that literally any age group can enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: Harriet and the Night-Time Sky
Review: When I was ten years old, my teacher was Mrs Stanley. Mrs Stanley (like all great teachers) refused to teach us what she was told to teach us. Instead she taught us what she felt we ought to know. One of the things she felt we ought to know was "Harriet the Spy." Harriet the Spy is Harriet M. Welsh, a little girl who keeps a notebook in which she writes thoughts and observations about her friends and the people around her. She also has a spy route made up of six or seven houses she passes on the way to and from school each day. She writes about the houses on her spy route in the notebook each day also. As a kid, you can understand the desire to peer in windows and you can share Harriet's frustration with grown-ups, what they say, what they don't say, all that. As a kid, you share the sense of isolation visited upon Harriet when her notebook falls out of her bag and is read by all the people in her class. You also share the good times and the laughs, of which there are many, with her. When you are a kid, you read "Harriet the Spy" and it's the story of a little girl whose world falls apart for a little while and then appears to be on the mend. Years later, I read the book again (sort of glimpsed through half-closed eyes, thinking: this will not be as good as I remembered). You know what? It is every bit as good reading the book as a (so-called) adult as it was reading the book as a kid. Since then I get through "Harriet the Spy" at least once a year. It has become a kind of tradition with me. My little girl is even named after her. "Harriet the Spy" is a golden classic. There are not many books like this. The five star rule goes out of the window. Other books you can measure with stars. Harriet the Spy is like the night-time sky. There are too many stars to count.
| 
