It took me a long a time to seek out this book because the reviews I'd read were not always positive, but I was surprised and delighted by how clever and moving this book is. We meet Harriet M. Welsch once more: this time she's staying at a summer house by the beach, near Beth Ellen. In Harriet the Spy, Beth Ellen is a side character, one who rarely speaks, but she is the central character of this story. Like Harriet the Spy, The Long Secret introduces us to a child who is materially very privileged, but is starved of love and attention by the adults around her. Beth Ellen lives with a very elderly grandmother, who spends most of her time in bed. Very shy, Beth Ellen is willing to follow Harriet around on her spying missions, and has not seen her own mother since she was a toddler. But during the summer of this book, Beth Ellen's mother returns from years spent partying in Europe, and Beth Ellen is so horrified by her that she finally has to stand up for herself. There are quite a few narrative threads going on here: occasionally they threaten to slip out of Fitzhugh's grasp, but most of the time she creates a deft and engaging story, while dealing with themes that feel remarkably modern for a children's book written in the 1960s. Harriet, Beth Ellen and her friends discuss religion, and whether it's an opium for the masses, careers, the role of women, menstruation, and loneliness, among other things. It's surprising and often moving, and has a timeless feel. Deserves to be much more widely read.

This was a disappointment because I liked Harriet the Spy so much and I only like this a little bit. Harriet seems to be practically not even the same character she was in the first book, and not to have learned any lessons at all. She exists here as a rude force to push the plot around.

Still, there were some interesting characters piquantly depicted.

The highest praise I can give this book is that it was one of several that was read to my class the year I was in third grade. Thank you Gladys Williams for reading aloud to our class in the afternoons and for etching this book and others indelibly on my brain.

This is one of my all-time favorite books. The characters, storyline, insight, humor... the best!

This book, from the Harriet the Spy author with a focus on one of her friends, FLOORED me. I absolutely love it.

I did, as noted per the four-star rating, really like this book, but something felt missing when compared with the first Harriet the Spy book. While I understand the marketing appeal of doing so, I think it's rather disingenuous to count this book as a Harriet sequel since the majority of the story focuses on Beth Ellen. That's not a bad thing, either--it's fun to move beyond Harriet's perspective and witness the character development of Beth throughout the summer. I also liked the expansion of Harriet's parents as well, especially when talking with Harriet about religion. I know this book was written and published more than fifty years ago, but it's rare to find a book that discusses religion with such respect even when those discussing it aren't necessarily churchgoing. The exploration of puberty for Harriet, Beth Ellen, and Janie is fun as well. Really, I think Fitzhugh should have bypassed Harriet's notebook entries altogether and focused on Beth Ellen almost entirely. That would have most likely bumped the book up to five stars for me. I don't think I'll keep this one, but I'm definitely glad to have read it.

PS--Harriet makes very clear in both this and the first book that she plans to marry Sport, so get out of here with making her asexual.

Sad I didn't appreciate this more. Harriet the Spy is one of my FAVORITE books and I had no idea there were sequels until this past year or so. Unfortunately it just doesn't have the same magic as the original.

I did like the blistering portrait of Beth's mom and her story as a shy, quiet girl with deep reserves of anger, as well as how absolutely terrible Harriet was. I was not fond of the fatphobia and token wise old Black man.

Worst cover ever short-list. Why? The author made it perfectly clear what the girls look like with her own interior illustrations. Well, it's an awful book anyway. I suppose it's meant to have some humor in it, but most of the jokes are so mean-spirited, making fun of what people like Mama Jenkins and Wallace look like, for example. I miss Sport; he was the only redeeming feature of the first book imo. The only redeeming feature of this is the mystery. It's worse than Catcher in the Rye, and Harriet screams and throws temper tantrums even more, and there's a lot of tears and even a lecture on menstruation, and there's not even a nod towards Lord of the Flies like there was in the first book. I do like the few instances of Mouse showing spunk, though, so I guess I'll give it two stars instead of one.

I enjoyed every bit of Harriet the Spy as a girl, and, while it made me anxious to read (because you knew she was going to get caught!), re-read it many times.

But The Long Secret is the book I continue to re-read as a grown woman. It shares the same strengths of great character portraits, plotting, and sense of place that "Harriet" had, but this sequel has a more languid, mysterious, quirky feel, and dares to leave things hanging. Set on the shores of the wealthy New Yorkers' summer beach playgrounds (and back in the days before they were discreetly luxurious, before they became overrun with bourgeois ridiculousness), it is the perfect book to read in the waning weeks of summer.

Or to re-read.

The first few chapters did not take me to where I was hoping to go... I am not sure if I have aged past my enjoyment of Harriet (loved the original as a kid, but haven't read it in decades), but this just felt awkward and unpleasant and cringey.
Sorry younger me. This is not my jam.

1.5/5 stars.
What happened? Harriet the Spy has been a favorite book of mine throughout my life, and I loved it just as much when I reread it recently. For me, it's one of those books that just makes me feel...cozy, probably because it was a consistent part of my childhood. I could understand and enjoy it more now that I am older, which also enhanced my reading experience. Plus, Harriet has always been such a relatable book character for me--she loves reading and writing, and she's observant and quirky and imaginative, so what's not to love?
I'd never read The Long Secret until now, and while I wasn't expecting it to be as good as its predecessor, I hoped it would be a light and enjoyable read. Though it was definitely a quick one, I have to say that it did not meet my expectations, and overall it honestly didn't feel like it fit after the first book.
For starters, there wasn't any follow-up to the events of the first book. Yes, Harriet was spending time with Beth Ellen and Janie, but I would have liked to know a lot more--what happened between Harriet and her classmates? How did the rest of her year go? Honestly, the book picked up from what I felt was a completely random point, without providing much information to connect the two books together.
Also, I felt as if the events of the book could have been much more exciting, and paced better. While
I liked the plot itself, I didn't like the way it was written very much. In fact, it felt like I was reading something by a different author entirely. Harriet also took a more unappealing turn as a character in this book--maybe it was because I got to see her actions through Beth Ellen's perspective, but I felt like she had dramatically changed for the worse. However, I did like reading about Beth Ellen--I'd wondered about her as a character in the first book, so I was happy to get to hear more about her and her life.
The Long Secret is more geared towards younger middle-grade readers, so maybe my age is playing a part in my criticism of the book. If you're looking for something quick and don't plan on being critical, you might have a different opinion, but I wasn't a fan.