Book SummaryHarriet wants to be a spy. She trains for her future career by spying on her neighbors and writing all the details in her notebooks. Her notebooks also contain her thoughts about her friends and family and those thoughts are not always nice. After her nurse leaves to get married, Harriet's friends find one of her notebooks and they read it aloud. Harriet learns a lot about the consequences of spying as she struggles with her anger and loneliness.
My Thoughts
I had a difficult time getting involved in this story. I felt as though the concentration on character development slowed the story down significantly as I kept waiting for something to happen. The relationship that Harriet has with her parents is hard to define and changes throughout the story with little explanation as to why or how. I would hesitate to recommend this book to any reluctant reader although a young girl who loves reading may very well enjoy it.
Library Usage
I would use this book in conjunction with the movie as a book to film display. As I mentioned above, I would recommend it as a good book for a girl who is already in love with reading.
Journal Reviews
School Library Journal Review
"Harriet is determined to become a famous author. In the meantime, she practices by following a regular spy route each day and writing down everything she sees in her secret notebook. Her life is turned upside down when her classmates find her notebook and read it aloud!." Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.
If you liked Harriet the Spy, be sure to check out Shelf Discovery–there’s a whole chapter devoted to it. Lizzie Skurnick, the author, is being interviewed tomorrow by Nancy Pearl.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.blogtalkradio.com/LibraryLoveFest/2009/09/23/Nancy-Pearl-and-Lizzie-Skurnick-talk-to-LibraryLovefest