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crookedtreehouse 's review for:
Sincerely, Harriet
by Sarah Winifred Searle
Like many of the other reviews point out, the description of the book doesn't quite match the experience of reading the book. While the character does suffer from a chronic mostly invivisible illness, it doesn't make its way into the story until about the halfway point, and it is unclear who the unrequited crush is.
It's a pretty decnt story about a kid who, due to loneliness, and an illness that is rarely mentioned, has become fairly unlikable. She's a bit of a mean-spirited liar, whose parents don't spend enough time to keep her poor behavior in check. Even when characters she trusts let her know that the people she lies about are good people, she is unable to accept it, and continues believing her own lies.
It's rough to root for her. And even though you feel bad that she is lonely, and worse that it is partly because of her illness, none of her behavior improves that much before the book ends.
The downstairs neighbor, a retired librarian is a great character, and I was rooting for her to have more of a positive influence on Harriet.
If you can get past the unlikable protagonist, this is a perfectly fine all-ages book. The art serves the story well, the dialogue is mostly realistic, and not everyone with a chronic illness had an inspirational story, sometimes they're also jerks, and that's a totally valid story to tell. I recommend it for kids who are avid readers, and who might be up for a discussion about why Harriet behaves the way she does in this book.
It's a pretty decnt story about a kid who, due to loneliness, and an illness that is rarely mentioned, has become fairly unlikable. She's a bit of a mean-spirited liar, whose parents don't spend enough time to keep her poor behavior in check. Even when characters she trusts let her know that the people she lies about are good people, she is unable to accept it, and continues believing her own lies.
It's rough to root for her. And even though you feel bad that she is lonely, and worse that it is partly because of her illness, none of her behavior improves that much before the book ends.
The downstairs neighbor, a retired librarian is a great character, and I was rooting for her to have more of a positive influence on Harriet.
If you can get past the unlikable protagonist, this is a perfectly fine all-ages book. The art serves the story well, the dialogue is mostly realistic, and not everyone with a chronic illness had an inspirational story, sometimes they're also jerks, and that's a totally valid story to tell. I recommend it for kids who are avid readers, and who might be up for a discussion about why Harriet behaves the way she does in this book.