A review by lauraborkpower
Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh

3.0

I enjoyed this, but I think I've missed something, and it's likely that what I've missed can't be found because I've only read this as an adult. I loved the setting and the idea of Harriet hiding in dumb waiters and behind bushes to spy on her neighbors (because whose childhood fantasy didn't involve spying?), and I really liked the supporting characters, especially Sport and Janie. But--and I fully expect to get flack for this--I didn't really like Harriet by the end of the book. I liked her a lot for about 3/4 of it; I felt her pre-pubescent pain and youth and frustrations, and I liked her for all of that. But she never feels bad about the things she wrote--and let's be frank, she makes a lot of ignorant and nasty little judgments--and from the entire experience she learns nothing except how to make an untruthful apology so that you can continue your behavior. Yikes. The other kids get to know the boy with the purple socks, and I feel like they benefit from that--quite a bit, actually. But Harriet doesn't seem to grow or mature at all. And that makes me sad.