Module 2: Harriet the Spy

Summary: Harriet M. Welsch wants to be a writer. She is never found without her notebooks, and she spends her afternoon "spying" on her neighbors, really for character study more than anything else. Sport, her best friend, is a boy whose dad is an absent-minded writer. Sport has to do all the cooking and cleaning in his house. Harriet's parents are socialites who are more interested in their superficial status than their own daughter. Harriet is essentially raised by her nanny, Ole Golly, who is no-nonsense but who understands Harriet. She is Harriet's only grounding force in the book.

Harriet is brutally honest in her observations she keeps in her notebook, as all writers should be. Her life seems fine, until two traumatic events happen: Ole Golly takes off and gets married, and Harriet's notebook is found by her classmates. Harriet must face their wrath and learn how to navigate the social world without her moral compass. She ultimately comes to understand that little white lies to spare your friends' feelings are far better than complete honesty all of the time.

Fitzhugh, L. (2001). Harriet the spy. New York, NY: Yearling.

My Impression: I really wanted to like this book. I was a precocious child myself, and one who would rather wear jeans than dresses. I understand Harriet. However, as an adult and a parent, I could not enjoy this book. I don't mind reading about characters with absent, frivolous parents. I don't mind reading about characters who are raised by nannies. I don't mind reading about characters in conflict with their peers. What I do mind is how mean-spirited much of the book was. Harriet is brutal in her observations. Her friends' responses to finding her writing is over-the-top, and even Harriet's making good on the issue involves spreading gossip and nasty rumors (even if they're true) about her friends' parents. The classmates only let up on Harriet when they can point the finger and laugh at someone else.

Harriet suffers no disciplinary consequences for her actions. The only suffering she does is being temporarily ostracized by her class, many of whom she looked at with disdain before the notebook incident. Her parents stay unconnected to her, ineffectual and lenient, like she is a doll to play with occasionally. The only time they really seem to care deeply for her is the night Harriet goes out with Ole Golly and her beau. When they return late, Harriet's parents rage against the "lower class" people and fire Ole Golly on the spot. Eventually, they calm down and let Ole Golly stay until she leaves to marry. One might think that this incident might change their ways, but no. At the end of the book, Harriet's parents announce they are going to live in Paris for three months without Harriet. They are just going to leave her in the hands of their cook, who doesn't like Harriet at all. With parents like those as role models, it's no wonder that Harriet is so mean-spirited about others.


Reviews:

"Harriet M. Welsch's watershed brand of cantankerousness, considered outrageous and unattractive in the sixties when her story was first published, still has a contemporary authenticity to it. Rebellion is, after all, rebellion, and the brand of privileged neglect that Harriet experiences has not yet gone out of fashion." -- Horn Book

 Beavin, K. (1999). Harriet the Spy. Horn Book Magazine, 75(6), 762. 

"As a milestone of the "new realism" in U.S. children's literature, Harriet the Spy changes the rules. Harriet does not feel fictional, and that is her power and her allure. In previous so-called realist books such as Five Little Peppers and How They Grew and Little Women, the parents are glowingly idealized and the children irritatingly "good." Fitzhugh does not shy away from the fact that home life can be less than perfect." -- Ms.

Dodds, K. (1996). Harriet the Spy: A hero for the '90s. Ms, 7(1), 80.

Uses in the Library

 This book could be used as a starter for a writing club. The students could be encouraged to keep a journal like Harriet's (although maybe not as brutally honest about their classmates!).