“Harriet was trying to explain to Sport how to play Town.”

From Louise Fitzhugh’s Harriet the Spy.

Life in New York City has presented lots of fun and interesting opportunities for eleven-year-old Harriet, who dreams of becoming a writer when she’s older.  In preparation for her future career, Harriet writes all her honest, secret observations of people and their interactions in a notebook, creating a routine of observing that takes up most of her time.  With the encouragement of her nanny, Ole Golly, Harriet watches her classmates, friends, neighbors, and even strangers so she can write about the things they do in her notebook.  When not filling her notebook, Harriet spends time with her friends, Sport and Janie, trying to actively avoid Marion, the evil teacher’s pet in her class.  When Ole Golly gets engaged, Harriet feels lost without her loving caretaker, but things soon get even worse when Harriet’s notebook falls into the wrong hands at school and her uninhibited thoughts are soon shared with everyone.  Angered by Harriet’s observation of and thoughts about them, some kids at school form a club with the sole purpose of making Harriet’s life miserable.  As revenge spirals out of control between both Harriet and the club, Harriet is overcome by depression, and she must decide how far she’s willing to go to get her friends back.

The inspiration for several movies of the same name, this classic story creates an interesting story about growing up and mending broken friendships.  Fitzhugh’s characters are interesting to follow through the story’s happenings, but they do not always draw readers in completely.  Harriet the Spy is an iconic story that offers young readers a quick, popular read.