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What a horrid book.
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Harriet the Spy #1
Harriet the Spy
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Alternate Cover Edition here.
First published by HarperCollinsUS in 1964, this classic children's novel has sold over 4 million copies and was awarded the New York Times Outstanding Book Award. Sixth-grader Harriet attends school on the New York's Upper East Side along with her two best pals, Sport, the jock, and Janie, the mad scientist. After school every day, she takes her notebook and proceeds through her spy route. Climbing on milk crates and hoisting herself up dumbwaiters, Harriet observes the rich lady who never gets out of bed; the man with twenty-five cats and the Italian family who runs a grocery store. She writes brutally warts-and-all notes on them all. Harriet's downfall is that she also writes down her thoughts about people she actually knows. After a game in the park when her notebook is knocked out of her hands and read by her classmates, Harriet's deepest thoughts are revealed and she is quickly ostracised by all her classmates - even the boy with the Purple Socks - who form the Spycatcher's Club to punish her. After her parents find out what's happened, Harriet receives a final, crushing blow. She is no longer allowed to take notes -- her parents, her teacher and even the cook search her ever
First published by HarperCollinsUS in 1964, this classic children's novel has sold over 4 million copies and was awarded the New York Times Outstanding Book Award. Sixth-grader Harriet attends school on the New York's Upper East Side along with her two best pals, Sport, the jock, and Janie, the mad scientist. After school every day, she takes her notebook and proceeds through her spy route. Climbing on milk crates and hoisting herself up dumbwaiters, Harriet observes the rich lady who never gets out of bed; the man with twenty-five cats and the Italian family who runs a grocery store. She writes brutally warts-and-all notes on them all. Harriet's downfall is that she also writes down her thoughts about people she actually knows. After a game in the park when her notebook is knocked out of her hands and read by her classmates, Harriet's deepest thoughts are revealed and she is quickly ostracised by all her classmates - even the boy with the Purple Socks - who form the Spycatcher's Club to punish her. After her parents find out what's happened, Harriet receives a final, crushing blow. She is no longer allowed to take notes -- her parents, her teacher and even the cook search her ever
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1,1964
This edition
- Format
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288 pages, Paperback
- Published
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January 1, 2003 by Collins
- ISBN
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9780007155026
- ASIN
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0007155026
- Language
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English
Characters More characters
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Ole Golly
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Janie Gibbs
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About the author
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Louise Perkins Fitzhugh was an American writer and illustrator of children's books. Fitzhugh is best known for her 1964 novel Harriet the Spy, a fiction work about an adolescent girl's predisposition with a journal covering the foibles of her friends, her classmates, and the strangers she is captivated by. The novel was later adapted into a live action film in 1996. The sequel novel, The Long Secret, was published in 1965, and its follow-up book, Sport, was published posthumously in 1979. Fitzhugh also wrote Nobody's Family Is Going to Change, which was later adapted into a short film and a play.
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Rating(3.9 / 5.0, 99 votes)
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99 reviews All reviews
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I swear, re-reading this I realized that Harriet is exactly like one of my little sisters, so, she's going to be forced to read this soon.
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I have taken up the habit of periodically of reading children's books or something aimed at a pre-teen audience. Sometimes it is something I read growing up, or that I might have read, but don't remember reading. I focus on the classics to see what I might have missed as a kid whose reputations have survived the years. I rarely find I dislike anything of this type that I read, and some of them I love. Harriet the Spy falls into the latter category. I had never heard of Harriet the Spy until reading Julie's, a GR friend, review.
Harriet is quite intelligent. Like many intelligent people, she struggles to interact socially with others not so gifted. She sees a lot in the world around her that she considers "dumb" and meets a lot of people in that world that she views as "dumb". While this perspective can come across as very negative and hurtful, this is not Harriet's intention, but she has to deal with the consequences. I wish I had read this at eleven years of age. The insights provided by the story would have been very valuable for me at that age, but even today are not wasted on me.
I always enjoy learning about any new author I come across. Louise Fitzhugh died at 46. I am sad that her years were so short, but I am happy she left us such a gift.
Harriet is quite intelligent. Like many intelligent people, she struggles to interact socially with others not so gifted. She sees a lot in the world around her that she considers "dumb" and meets a lot of people in that world that she views as "dumb". While this perspective can come across as very negative and hurtful, this is not Harriet's intention, but she has to deal with the consequences. I wish I had read this at eleven years of age. The insights provided by the story would have been very valuable for me at that age, but even today are not wasted on me.
I always enjoy learning about any new author I come across. Louise Fitzhugh died at 46. I am sad that her years were so short, but I am happy she left us such a gift.
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As a kid, I loved this book about a girl who spies on people and keeps a spy notebook.
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This book recently came up in conversation between me and my sister, and I have to say, of all the books I've ever hated, this one had the most positive impact on my life. With Harriet, I got a glimpse into the kind of hateful, awful person I could be if I gave into my worst impulses, and it helped shape my conscience right before I began to consistently keep a journal.
I sometimes wrote unkind things about other people, but when I did, I focused on venting about their observable behavior. Unlike Harriet, I did not snoop on people, cruelly speculate about anyone's thoughts or home life, or write rude things just for the sake of being nasty. Even when I gave way to complete vitriol, I was still focused on publicly observable facts, and I wasn't motivated by sheer mean-spirited nastiness.
I remember finding this book deeply uncomfortable and disturbing. Although it was realistic in many ways, I thought that it was unnecessarily dark, and no one was truly likeable. I made it to the end out of my sense of curiosity and tension, and shuddered and felt terrible over Harriet's experiences as people discovered her notebook. What followed was an honest look into what could have been my future, and even though Harriet didn't learn any real lessons from her behavior, I did. I got a harsh, unforgiving look at the dark path that I could go down if I indulged all of my worst inclinations, and the memory of this book has made me a better, more circumspect person in all of my writing.
I sometimes wrote unkind things about other people, but when I did, I focused on venting about their observable behavior. Unlike Harriet, I did not snoop on people, cruelly speculate about anyone's thoughts or home life, or write rude things just for the sake of being nasty. Even when I gave way to complete vitriol, I was still focused on publicly observable facts, and I wasn't motivated by sheer mean-spirited nastiness.
I remember finding this book deeply uncomfortable and disturbing. Although it was realistic in many ways, I thought that it was unnecessarily dark, and no one was truly likeable. I made it to the end out of my sense of curiosity and tension, and shuddered and felt terrible over Harriet's experiences as people discovered her notebook. What followed was an honest look into what could have been my future, and even though Harriet didn't learn any real lessons from her behavior, I did. I got a harsh, unforgiving look at the dark path that I could go down if I indulged all of my worst inclinations, and the memory of this book has made me a better, more circumspect person in all of my writing.
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Ovo je kao da čitam oridžin stori nekog superzlikovca. Harijeti stvari bivaju uskraćene, svi joj okreću leđa i ona postaje super-zla i to je to.
OK nije to to, ali ne znam tačno šta je.
Ovo je roman iz sasvim drugog vremena koji se javlja iz potrebe da kaže čitaociima da su posluga ljudska bića i da su i ljudi manje srećni i pametni od nas ljudska bića. I zbog svih stvari koje je (svojom krivicom ili ne) Harijeta izgubila, ona se oseća baš loše, baš je teško za čitanje koliko se ona loše oseća, usamljenost i izgubljenost cure sa stranica.
Dakle, knjiga je zaista mudra i lepo pisana i nudi puno uvida, ali da je smešna kao što korice tvrde - baš nije.
OK nije to to, ali ne znam tačno šta je.
Ovo je roman iz sasvim drugog vremena koji se javlja iz potrebe da kaže čitaociima da su posluga ljudska bića i da su i ljudi manje srećni i pametni od nas ljudska bića. I zbog svih stvari koje je (svojom krivicom ili ne) Harijeta izgubila, ona se oseća baš loše, baš je teško za čitanje koliko se ona loše oseća, usamljenost i izgubljenost cure sa stranica.
Dakle, knjiga je zaista mudra i lepo pisana i nudi puno uvida, ali da je smešna kao što korice tvrde - baš nije.
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I started writing by the age of eleven and as a kid connected with Harriet acutely. She wants to become a writer, and one way to practice writing is by carrying a notebook around and writing down what she thinks of people...and sometimes eavesdropping.
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3/2023: Piece I wrote for Mockingbird inspired by this latest reading: https://mbird.com/literature/harriet-...
2/2023: Listened to the audiobook with the 4th grader. Still perfect.
2/2023: Listened to the audiobook with the 4th grader. Still perfect.
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