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 and Janie. After school every day, she takes her notebook and proceeds through her spy route. 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 honest notes on them all. Harriet's downfall is that she also writes notes 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 innermost thoughts are revealed and she is shunned by all her classmates, who form the Spycatcher's Club. 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 every day for a contraband notebook. Harriet's only consolation is the love and the wise advice of her nanny who manages to get her through this difficult period in her life.
A classic in the US where it was first published and a major motion film from Paramount, Harriet the Spy is a beloved book throughout the world.
This is volume 1 in Collins Modern Classics .
This book has been graded for interest at 9-13 years.
There are 288 pages in this book. This book was published 2016 by HarperCollins Publishers .
Louise Fitzhugh (1928-1974) was born in Memphis, Tennessee and published `Harriet the Spy', her first novel, to mixed reviews in 1964, but it has since been recognised as a children's classic. `The Long Secret' followed in 1965 and `Sport' was published posthumously in 1979.
This book contains the following story:
Harriet the Spy
Harriet the Spy was groundbreaking, pointing the way ahead fora strand of realistic children's fiction tackling the issues of growing up and adolescence. The heroine of Fitzhugh's story is eleven-year-old Harriet Welsch, who starts a journai packed with her thoughts on family, friends, school classmates, and a succession of neighbors who Harriet secretly watches on her "spy route." Harriet's observations are generally entertaining, but not always complimentary. Apart from her desire to write and become a spy, Harriet also keeps a journal because she is lonely. She lives in New York, in Manhattan's affluent Upper East Side. Her busy parents are rarely around and she is looked after by a nanny, Ole Golly. Harriet experiences the ultimate disaster feared by all diarists when her notebook is discovered, and her friends read what she has written about them. They establish the Spy Catcher Club and set about exacting revenge on Harriet for her spiteful comments. 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 every day for a contraband notebook. Harriet's only consolation is the love and the wise advice of her nanny who manages to get her through this difficult period in her life.
This book has been nominated for the following award:
Parents' Choice Award
This book was recognised by the Parents' Choice Award.
