A review by plainviewfarmer
Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh

3.0

This was a really, really tricky one for me. My daughter loved it, and not just because her name is Harriet. But...I'm not sure if the book just doesn't hold up well in 2021 or if I'm being a stick-in-the-mud, but I had such a hard time with the way Harriet treated people, particularly the way she treated the cook. On one hand, I found the whole middle section of the book unpleasant to read, with so much sadness, so much anger, disrespect, despair and outright meanness (especially the meanness). And then on the other hand, I really respect the fact that the hero of our story is rather unlikeable and seems to be repeating the same mistakes over and over again because it's real life. I also really appreciated this book as an example of what can happen when grief comes out sideways. And the last couple of pages were fantastic. It was an absolutely perfect ending...not a fairy tale ending...not even close, and that made it so perfect...beautifully understated. I had to give it only three stars though, just because the whole middle section was so brutal.