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3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
Here is another great example of needing to read a book by a certain age. As an adult I found the things Harriet wrote about other people hurtful and mean spirited but I know I wouldn't have thought so if I was reading it as a 12 year old myself. Interesting conversations to be had with kids this age about changing friendships and dealing with being excluded. I liked the descriptions of feeling incomplete without her journal.
I never read this as a kid. I was brought to it by “1000 Books to Read Before You Die”. What a misanthropic, sociopathic protagonist and book! I loved it!
I think kids need more books that don’t preach or talk down to them, but show them human nature, warts and all. If some kids had a book group, this would be a good one to discuss issues, such as the ethics of personal privacy. And how and when to tell lies in order to conduct yourself in society.
I think kids can learn more by reading about a sociopath like Harriet than by reading about a flawless protagonist.
I think kids need more books that don’t preach or talk down to them, but show them human nature, warts and all. If some kids had a book group, this would be a good one to discuss issues, such as the ethics of personal privacy. And how and when to tell lies in order to conduct yourself in society.
I think kids can learn more by reading about a sociopath like Harriet than by reading about a flawless protagonist.
This was one of my favorite books as a child and I still really enjoy it now. Very funny and very intelligent.
I loved this book as a kid and it was really interesting to revisit it now. I have a lot of thoughts that I might come back and post when I'm on my PC, but in the meantime I'll just say that I really enjoyed it still, even though I know it hit waaay different now than it did nearly two decades ago.
So my general rating system is 1 star = "fairly unbearable to read" and 2 is more, "I didn't like it, but it was tolerable/okay/I guess I can grudgingly see literary merit in this." This falls more in the realm of "this was readable and kind of a fascinating train wreck."
And what do her parents do when she does these sorts of things, antagonizes the cook into temporarily quitting, throws shoes at her dad, etc? They talk to the principal and rig some sort of deal to get Harriet made the editor of the school paper for her grade. Understandably, it would be a better and more constructive outlet for her, especially since her nurse was encouraging her to do creative writing and to write stories. But it's just like.. getting a reward thrown her way for nothing. And the things she ends up publishing? Things like this bit about a 14 year old girl in a local immigrant family that everyone knows:
“FRANCA DEI SANTI HAS ONE OF THE DUMBEST FACES YOU COULD EVER HOPE TO SEE. I DON’T KNOW HOW SHE GETS THROUGH THE DAY.” Before continuing to shit talk her as flunking school and being hopeless, and going as far as to mention the address of the store her whole family works at. Then she makes fun of her for being lonely and talking to pigeons and ends it all with “I HID BEHIND A TREE AND I STILL COULDN’T HEAR A WORD BUT FRANCA LOOKED LIKE SHE WAS HAVING A GOOD TIME. SHE DOESN’T HAVE A GOOD TIME AT HOME BECAUSE EVERYONE KNOWS HOW DUMB SHE IS AND DOESN’T TALK TO HER.”
Why did the school let her publish these things every week? God only knows.
She spends the whole book looking down on others and refers to everyone around herself as dumb, stupid, fat, and ugly. Right up to the very end. And the moral that Harriet walks away with in the long run? 'Keep doing exactly what you've been doing. Keep stalking people, sneaking into strangers' houses, keep writing nasty things about them, keep writing about your teacher living in the slums, your classmate's father being an alcoholic, another's father leaving them. Keep it all up! Just lie to your friends and family to smooth things over so that you can get on with your life without people staying pissed at you, and don't ever let anyone pick up one of your notebooks again.' It literally ends with her writing in her notebook after her two friends seem to forgive her:
Right as she stares her sheepish friends in the face. About 3 sentences before the book ends.
I'm just kind of amazed at the complete lack of character growth, and given that the main character is mostly unlikeable.. (Really, most of the characters are unlikeable.) It's kind of fascinating to just step back and look at this book at the end. I feel like.. had I read this when I was a bitter, angry child/teenager, I still would have been turned off by this character. And I was relishing in reading Stephen King and watching gory horror movies where you almost root for the bad guy because the victims feel so irredeemably stupid. (Still do!)
Spoiler
After her classmates shun her, steal a sandwich, and spill ink on her, Harriet becomes absolutely calculating in the damage that she ends up trying to do to others. At that point her notebooks turn from a brutally honest diary where she makes usually nasty and negative observations about everyone around her, to basically a burn book where she plots to do various things to her classmates, including antagonizing one girl about her missing father (which she does), beat on the most timid girl in class, and break her main female friend's finger (a plan that she brings up multiple times). At an earlier point in the book, she also writes to herself that if her precious nurse had a baby, Harriet wouldn't mind it staying in her room with her: "UNLESS IT WAS A VERY NOISY CHILD WHO TRIED TO READ MY NOTEBOOKS, THEN I WOULD SMASH IT." Honestly? There are so many red flags in this book. As a dear friend pointed out, if Harriet had been a boy, older readers might have been expressing concerns that she seems like the sort of child that would end up killing people.And what do her parents do when she does these sorts of things, antagonizes the cook into temporarily quitting, throws shoes at her dad, etc? They talk to the principal and rig some sort of deal to get Harriet made the editor of the school paper for her grade. Understandably, it would be a better and more constructive outlet for her, especially since her nurse was encouraging her to do creative writing and to write stories. But it's just like.. getting a reward thrown her way for nothing. And the things she ends up publishing? Things like this bit about a 14 year old girl in a local immigrant family that everyone knows:
“FRANCA DEI SANTI HAS ONE OF THE DUMBEST FACES YOU COULD EVER HOPE TO SEE. I DON’T KNOW HOW SHE GETS THROUGH THE DAY.” Before continuing to shit talk her as flunking school and being hopeless, and going as far as to mention the address of the store her whole family works at. Then she makes fun of her for being lonely and talking to pigeons and ends it all with “I HID BEHIND A TREE AND I STILL COULDN’T HEAR A WORD BUT FRANCA LOOKED LIKE SHE WAS HAVING A GOOD TIME. SHE DOESN’T HAVE A GOOD TIME AT HOME BECAUSE EVERYONE KNOWS HOW DUMB SHE IS AND DOESN’T TALK TO HER.”
Why did the school let her publish these things every week? God only knows.
She spends the whole book looking down on others and refers to everyone around herself as dumb, stupid, fat, and ugly. Right up to the very end. And the moral that Harriet walks away with in the long run? 'Keep doing exactly what you've been doing. Keep stalking people, sneaking into strangers' houses, keep writing nasty things about them, keep writing about your teacher living in the slums, your classmate's father being an alcoholic, another's father leaving them. Keep it all up! Just lie to your friends and family to smooth things over so that you can get on with your life without people staying pissed at you, and don't ever let anyone pick up one of your notebooks again.' It literally ends with her writing in her notebook after her two friends seem to forgive her:
OLE GOLLY [the nurse] IS RIGHT, SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO LIE."
Right as she stares her sheepish friends in the face. About 3 sentences before the book ends.
I'm just kind of amazed at the complete lack of character growth, and given that the main character is mostly unlikeable.. (Really, most of the characters are unlikeable.) It's kind of fascinating to just step back and look at this book at the end. I feel like.. had I read this when I was a bitter, angry child/teenager, I still would have been turned off by this character. And I was relishing in reading Stephen King and watching gory horror movies where you almost root for the bad guy because the victims feel so irredeemably stupid. (Still do!)
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
Considering this book is banned in many countries- it really warmed my heart.
Tremendously influential when I was an angry, isolated early teen
Mental note: update review.
Mental note: update review.
Sometimes as grown up I like to read middle-grade books for a pallet cleanser or to see novel for children with the eyes of an adult. During the middle-grade age I didn't have the opportunity to read Harriet the Spy, but my motto is never to late to read any book.
Harriet the Spy is clever and observant mind of 11-year-old Harriet, a budding writer and amateur spy who navigates the complexities of childhood with wit and humor. With its lighthearted tone and relatable themes of friendship and prodigy. Even though Harriet the Spy was published 1964 the mystery and the secrets that lie just beneath the surface of everyday life is an interesting take. You can see the difference of the children of the 1960s with todays.
Harriet the Spy is clever and observant mind of 11-year-old Harriet, a budding writer and amateur spy who navigates the complexities of childhood with wit and humor. With its lighthearted tone and relatable themes of friendship and prodigy. Even though Harriet the Spy was published 1964 the mystery and the secrets that lie just beneath the surface of everyday life is an interesting take. You can see the difference of the children of the 1960s with todays.
The inspiration for many years of peeking through my bedroom window curtains at neighbors.