I was disappointed by this one and wow was she mean! There’s was a short point of time I felt bad for her when e wry one turned against her, but overall she brought it on herself. That Harriet needs some intense therapy for whatever she’s got going on.

I wish this was a fun imagination story of a young spy, but unfortunately it was not.

I’m glad I finally read this at the ripe old age of 47. Harriet is great! I love that she really knows what she wants and is determined to get it. Meanwhile, she is very aware that she is only 11 and she is really figuring out how to be a person. There’s a great scene in which she found out from a friend that she’ll be forced to go to dancing school and before her parents even bring it up she loudly informs them that she won’t attend. They try to calm her and she keeps yelling at the top of her lungs that she won’t go, which of course is not effective. “She wasn’t getting the right reaction. Something was wrong.”

When she learns that her nurse (which here I think means nanny?) is going to get married and all of a sudden like wurst because her husband-to-be keeps taking her out to German restaurants, Harriet writes in her notebook: “I THINK MAYBE THEY’RE ALL RIGHT WHEN THEY SAY THERE ARE SOME THINGS I WON’T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT UNTIL I’M OLDER. BUT IF IT MAKES YOU LIKE TO EAT ALL KINDS OF WURST I’M NOT SURE I’M GOING TO LIKE THIS.”

There is also a great scene in which Harriet is trying to pretend to be an onion for a school dance program. Her father tries to help her but admits he feels more like a scallion.

I loved her friend Janie who is always threatening to blow things up.

I was surprised at how rich Harriet’s family seems to be. They are a family of three and have three staff, and Harriet apparently attends a private school. She doesn’t seem to realize how well off they are, although as she thinks about her family and her friend Sport’s family, and how he talks about money, she starts to realize the difference, mostly based on the fact that he has to think about money and she never does.

In a way I wish I had read this as a kid like everyone else, but I’m also glad I read it now. It was the book I needed this week.

I'm sort of torn on this one...

The first part of the book dragged so badly, it couldn't keep me interested in anyone or anything. I understand that it was really setting everything up for Harriet. It illustrated her relationships with her family, Ole Golly, and her classmates which was important. I had a hard time staying invested. Once the conflict with the notebook started, I was hooked.

Harriet wasn't terribly likable for me but she was unabashedly herself. I liked aspects about her. I think she's a spoiled brat, but she is definitely herself and could appreciate that. Also, most of her classmates were just as mean as she was, so I was rooting for her though the second half of the book.

I did like this book. I think kids (or anyone) could learn a lot from Harriet's acceptance of herself.