Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.35 AVERAGE
3.35 AVERAGE
This is the second in the reboots of Harriet The Spy, after Harriet Spies Again. I would definitely recommend reading Harriet the Spy first (obviously) but I would also recommend reading Spies Again, as some things in this book won't make sense otherwise.
This is also shorter than Spies Again, so it does finish quite abruptly. Despite being published in 2007, there have been no further spin offs or follow ups to this and Spies Again, which is quite disappointing. Perhaps the sales were not what they'd hoped for. They are good, but as I mentioned in my Spies Again review, I don't think they quite captured the magic (or the verging on fanatical note taking.)
This also starts to show the characters growing up, which was previously touched upon in Spies Again (for reference, I have not read The Long Secret as yet, and i know that deals with more puberty issues) with Sport growing hair. His voice is mentioned by Harriet as changing and even Janie reappears in this book. Her character has been completely changed, from the wanting-to-blow-up-the-world-science-crazy-girl, to a popstar obsessed tweenager. I do think Janie was a sadly forgotten about character in the previous book, and I don't particularly like the severe change of her personality and her attitude towards Harriet at times. However, Sport is still floating around, but Harriet is experiencing the changes of her peers, and wondering/fearing if the same will happen to her.
I have found that Spies Again and Double Agent do tend the miss the most important point of what made the original book so popular - Harriet spends less and less time writing in her notebooks, and even less time spying on her regulars. (Although she does tend to unlock the "toy box" that they're kept in and stroke the spines/re-read some of them.) I miss the stories of her adventures in the dumbwaiter and sneaking up on people, to snatch part of their lives/conversations to include in her notebooks. She does still write in her notebook in this, but it was too few and far between for my liking.
Ole Golly is also sadly missing from this, apart from a couple of letters sent from Montreal, and Cook is also missing from the majority of the book. These were big characters in the original book and Spies Again, I just felt like Double Agent could have been longer, or spent less time on Annie.
Most of the book is taken up of the mystery of Annie/Yolanda/Rosarita/Zoe/Cassandra and who she's sneaking off to see. It is good that the authors of these spin off books feel confident to introduce new characters into Harriet's world, but Annie annoyed me a little bit, and just rubbed me (and Harriet) up the wrong way. If I had been Harriet, I would have gone back to Sport in a heartbeat.
There's also a slight will-they-won't-they between Harriet and Sport, again, showing the passage of time, and how they're starting to develop feelings. Not much is made of it though, and I'm not sure if Louise Fitzhugh would be spinning in her grave at this thought or not.
It will be interesting to see how The Long Secret compares to these spin offs, especially as that was a direct sequel by Fitzhugh. As much as I grew up loving Harriet The Spy, I just don't feel like the spark is there for these two books. Bring back the notebooks!
This is also shorter than Spies Again, so it does finish quite abruptly. Despite being published in 2007, there have been no further spin offs or follow ups to this and Spies Again, which is quite disappointing. Perhaps the sales were not what they'd hoped for. They are good, but as I mentioned in my Spies Again review, I don't think they quite captured the magic (or the verging on fanatical note taking.)
This also starts to show the characters growing up, which was previously touched upon in Spies Again (for reference, I have not read The Long Secret as yet, and i know that deals with more puberty issues) with Sport growing hair. His voice is mentioned by Harriet as changing and even Janie reappears in this book. Her character has been completely changed, from the wanting-to-blow-up-the-world-science-crazy-girl, to a popstar obsessed tweenager. I do think Janie was a sadly forgotten about character in the previous book, and I don't particularly like the severe change of her personality and her attitude towards Harriet at times. However, Sport is still floating around, but Harriet is experiencing the changes of her peers, and wondering/fearing if the same will happen to her.
I have found that Spies Again and Double Agent do tend the miss the most important point of what made the original book so popular - Harriet spends less and less time writing in her notebooks, and even less time spying on her regulars. (Although she does tend to unlock the "toy box" that they're kept in and stroke the spines/re-read some of them.) I miss the stories of her adventures in the dumbwaiter and sneaking up on people, to snatch part of their lives/conversations to include in her notebooks. She does still write in her notebook in this, but it was too few and far between for my liking.
Ole Golly is also sadly missing from this, apart from a couple of letters sent from Montreal, and Cook is also missing from the majority of the book. These were big characters in the original book and Spies Again, I just felt like Double Agent could have been longer, or spent less time on Annie.
Most of the book is taken up of the mystery of Annie/Yolanda/Rosarita/Zoe/Cassandra and who she's sneaking off to see. It is good that the authors of these spin off books feel confident to introduce new characters into Harriet's world, but Annie annoyed me a little bit, and just rubbed me (and Harriet) up the wrong way. If I had been Harriet, I would have gone back to Sport in a heartbeat.
There's also a slight will-they-won't-they between Harriet and Sport, again, showing the passage of time, and how they're starting to develop feelings. Not much is made of it though, and I'm not sure if Louise Fitzhugh would be spinning in her grave at this thought or not.
It will be interesting to see how The Long Secret compares to these spin offs, especially as that was a direct sequel by Fitzhugh. As much as I grew up loving Harriet The Spy, I just don't feel like the spark is there for these two books. Bring back the notebooks!
Nothing compared to what Louise Fitzhugh would have written...but I suppose it's cute for what it is.