Book #80 Read in 2014
Harriet Spies Again by Helen Ericson (YA)

This is a companion novel to the children's classic book, Harriet the Spy, and continues Harriet's story. Ericson stays true to the original writing style and character development. Harriet is still a quirky young detective, about to turn 12 and trying to figure out the mysteries around her. Ole Golly, her nanny of sorts, has returned to New York and Harriet feels there is more to that story than she has been told. Thanksgiving arrives and Harriet has set things up to try to solve all of the mysteries.

Reading this book was like visiting a childhood friend. Harriet's voice was the same. It was a good, quick read.

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I love Harriet! I didn’t realize there were sequels to Harriet the Spy. Now I want to read them all! If I had a daughter like Harriet I would pull my hair out, but she’s so much fun to meet in fiction. (Oh wait- was I a daughter like that? Is that why I love Harriet?! Oh help.)

Just when I'd thought Harriet was gone forever, with the passing of Louise Fitzhugh, she's back again, Ole Golly mysterious as ever in her ever growing tweed coat. Harriet finds the most delightful secret ever. While a mid-grade novel, a must read for all writers or writing aspirants. You'll not be disappointed. Helen Ericson, has kept Harriet's, Sport's, and of course, Ole Golly's true voices.”

One of my students said I reminded her of Harriet the Spy, so I thought, ah what the heck. Cute story-- it's a 4th grade reading level but with REALLY impressive vocabulary. If I were still teaching elementary school, I would include this in my curriculum!

I have loved Harriet The Spy since I was young, and have only now discovered that there were sequels. I've been having difficulty getting Sport for a reasonable price, but I've managed to purchase The Long Secret and the two reboots/reimaginings by Helen Ericson and Maya Gold.

The book is only 230 pages long, with a preview of the original Harriet The Spy tacked on at the end. I think for this one, Helen Ericson has now a really good job of sticking closely to the original Louise Fitzhugh work, while bringing in new characters, and bringing back old characters. Sadly, the line drawings I loved so much from my copy are sadly missing, as I think these were potentially drawn by Louise Fitzhugh herself. The cover art has been slightly modernised, while still inkeeping with "my" version of Harriet.

There's not as much note taking in this one, which was the thing I suppose I really loved about the original book. Instead, Helen has moved slightly away from the infamous notebooks, to Harriet making a "timeline" of her life, from birth to her current age at the end of the book of 12. This includes all sorts of "headlines" throughout the ever increasing sheets of paper.

Harriet also makes a new friend in this, who we'll find out more about in Double Agent. Sport still appears, although his father is now married (quite suddenly, even though the book seems to follow on shortly from the original work), however Janie does not appear and is only given the briefest of mentions. From what I've seen, The Long Secret appears to focus less on Harriet and more on Beth Ellen, so I'm not sure how that will be just yet, or how these reimaginings fit into the timeline.

Ole Golly also comes back and Cook is cantankerous as always (I still think she has a secret soft spot for Harriet). Harriet's parents disappear for the majority of the book, thankfully, to warrant bringing back Ole Golly.

There's nothing in this that a child would not/could not understand, and there's only the briefest mention of puberty, in the form of Harriet spotting hair on Sport's top lip. So this will be fine to read for a child, there's no adult overtures.

While I don't think it has the same magic as the original, the author has still done a good job capturing the tone and clearly knew the characters quite well. It's still worth picking up, to read as a follow on.

In this book, there is a girl named Harriet who thinks she is a spy. To be honest, she really is a good spy. She has two friends. Sport and Janie. She attends Gregory School. One day, when she was working on her timeline of her life, her parents called her. She went downstairs. Her parents told her the exciting news. They were going to Paris for three months! Harriet was angry. She did not want to go. She admitted that. Her parents explained they were not going to take her. Harriet then felt a little sad. Her parents were going to Paris and not taking her! That meant she would be left at home with a boring old Cook. But on weekends, Cook is going to her house! Who would look after her? When it was time to eat she talked to Cook. They talked about the other people like the Feigenbaums. The Feigenbaums want to steal cook from Harriet’s family, the Welsches. Cook said they offered her full pay. However, Harriet’s mom talked her into staying. Then she asked Cook if her mother left, and Cook left on weekends who would take care of her on weekends? Cook seemed surprised Harriet didn’t yet know the news. Olle Golly is coming back! She told Harriet. Harriet was SOOO happy! Olle Golly was her nanny or something that was taking care of her before she found a boyfriend and moved to Montreal together. Harriet couldn’t wait to see her again! Maybe she could ask her about marriage with George Waldenstein, her boyfriend and now husband. She then wondered about siblings and what they would do if she had one. Right now, she used the phone. She usually phones her best friends, Sport and Janie. Olle Golly uses it to phone her mother and George. Harriet used it now to communicate with Sport. They talked about Sport’s new mother and school. (Harriet is very worried about Sport fitting in his new school.) Harriet then told sport the outstanding news that Olle Golly was coming back. Sport was as exciting as she was! Harriet was also preparing for Olle Golly’s arrival. She was going to prepare her bedroom and everything. Then, her mother appeared into her room just when she was working on her timeline! Harriet did not want her mother to know about her timeline. She would be uncertain about it. So she told a lie. She then spent her next few days, spying on the Feigenbaums, writing in her notebook, talking on the telephone and preparing for Olle Golly’s arrival. Sadly, Harriet’s mother told her to forget about George. Olle Golly says they must not talk about him. Harriet wanted to know so much about him though! During one of the Feigenbaum's spy cases she made a more or less friend called Rosarita Sauvage. Rosarita and Harriet might have something in common. She is just so strange. Rosarita knows Harriet’s phone number. They communicate by telephone. Harriet wrote Olle Golly returns in her time line too. Soon, Olle Golly actually returns! Harriet just had enough time to prepare for her arrival. Decorating and stuff. During her return, Harriet hugs her and does a lot more things I guess. However, after a while, she notices Olle Golly has changed. She is sad. She doesn’t want her to change and be sad. And about Rosarita, has she created a new friend or a new problem? What will Harriet do?

Quite good. Better than I expected. Hard to take a classic like this and make a sequel. Harriet is nicer, softer more mature than in the first novel. A very enjoyable read.

My kids love Harriet the Spy

Great story. I loved Harriet as a kid and this book brought all of it back for me. I listened to the audio version narrated Anne Bobby.

If you're going to continue a well-known pair of books, you should at least have a decent sense of the characters. Unfortunately Ms. Ericson did not, and does quite a disservice to the childhood memories of a lot of book loving girls, especially this one. Reread Harriet the Spy, but give this pale imitation a pass.

Harriet was basically raised by Ole Golly....until Golly got married to Mr. Waldenstein and moved to Montreal. With Harriets parents living in Paris for a few months Ole Golly comes back to take care of Harriet with one stipulation....no one can mention Mr. Waldenstein's name. That's too much for Harriet, she has to know what happened to the marriage. She is a spy so surely she can figure it out somehow. But Ole Golly won't answer any questions and no one else can help. Harriet find it strange that Ole Golly goes to see the doctor across the street carrying a small bag. What can that mean? Ole Golly is not herself. She 's sad, naps a lot and hides in her room. She's not like Harriet remembers. The spy in Harriet must get to the bottom of it.

AWESOME!