Harriet the Spy facts for kids
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First ever edition
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| Author | Louise Fitzhugh |
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| Illustrator | Louise Fitzhugh |
| Genre | Children's spy novel |
| Publisher | Harper & Row |
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Publication date
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1964 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
| Pages | 298 (first ed.) |
| ISBN | 978-0-440-41679-1 |
| OCLC | 301132 |
| LC Class | PZ7.F5768 Har |
| Followed by | The Long Secret |
Harriet the Spy is a popular children's novel. It was written and illustrated by Louise Fitzhugh and first published in 1964. Many people call it a "milestone" and a "classic" in children's books. In the U.S., it was ranked highly on lists of the best books for kids in 2012.
The book has two sequels, or "companion books." These are The Long Secret (1965) and Sport (1979).
Contents
Story of Harriet the Spy
The story is about eleven-year-old Harriet M. Welsch. She lives in New York City and wants to be a writer. Harriet is very smart and excited about her future job. Her nanny, Catherine "Ole Golly," encourages her. Harriet watches people carefully and writes down her thoughts in a notebook. This helps her practice for her writing career.
Every afternoon, Harriet follows a "spy route." She watches her classmates, friends, and people in her neighborhood. For example, she observes a local store. There, the younger son, Fabio, struggles with his career. His brother, Bruno, is hardworking and loyal. Harriet also sees the stock boy, Joe Curry, eating in the storeroom. He also feeds homeless kids instead of working.
Harriet's best friends are Simon "Sport" Rocque and Janie Gibbs. Sport is a serious boy who wants to be an accountant or a baseball player. Janie wants to be a scientist. Harriet's enemies in class are Marion Hawthorne and Rachel Hennessy. Marion is the teacher's favorite and tries to be the boss of the class. Rachel is Marion's best friend.
Harriet likes her life to be organized. She always eats tomato sandwiches and does not like other kinds. She also dislikes "girly" activities. For example, her parents want her to go to dance school, but she refuses. Ole Golly helps Harriet change her mind. She tells Harriet stories about famous dancers like Josephine Baker and spies like Mata Hari.
Harriet's life changes suddenly when Ole Golly decides to get married. Ole Golly's boyfriend, Mr. Waldenstein, asks her to marry him, and she says yes. Harriet's mother is surprised. Ole Golly explains that she planned to leave anyway. She believes Harriet is old enough to take care of herself. Harriet is very sad to lose her nanny. Her parents are often busy with work and social life. They do not understand how sad Harriet feels.
At school, Harriet loses her notebook during a game of tag. Her classmates find it. They are shocked by her very honest and sometimes harsh opinions about them. For example, she wrote that Sport was like a "little old woman." She also wrote that Marion Hawthorne would grow up to be someone who tries to control everyone. The students form a "Spy Catcher Club." They try to make Harriet's life difficult. They steal her lunch and pass mean notes about her.
One day, the kids plan to spill ink on Harriet. They want it to look like an accident. But their plan goes wrong. Harriet slaps Marion in anger, leaving a blue handprint on Marion's face.
Harriet watches the Spy Catcher Club through a fence. She thinks of ways to get back at them. She realizes her words were mean. But because she is hurt and lonely, she plans special punishments for each club member. After getting into trouble for some of her plans, Harriet tries to be friends with Sport and Janie again. But they both reject her. Harriet stops doing schoolwork. She spends all her time writing in her notebook, planning against the Spy Catcher Club. She skips school and stays in bed because she feels very sad.
When Harriet's grades drop, her parents take away her notebook. This makes her even sadder. Harriet's mother takes her to see a doctor who helps people with their feelings. The doctor tells Harriet's parents to ask Ole Golly to write to Harriet. In her letter, Ole Golly gives Harriet advice. She says that if anyone reads her notebook, Harriet must do two things. "1: You have to apologize. 2: You have to lie. Otherwise you are going to lose a friend."
Meanwhile, the Spy Catcher Club starts to have problems. Marion and Rachel are making all the decisions. Sport and Janie get tired of being told what to do. When they quit the club, most of their classmates do too.
Harriet's parents talk to her teacher and the school principal. Harriet is then made editor of the class newspaper. She replaces Marion. The newspaper features stories about the people on Harriet's spy route and the students' parents. It becomes very popular. Harriet also uses the paper to say that what she wrote in her journal was not true. Sport and Janie forgive Harriet, and they become friends again.
Other Books in the Series
Louise Fitzhugh wrote two more books after Harriet the Spy. These are The Long Secret (1965) and Sport (1979). Sport was published after Fitzhugh passed away. Both books received mixed reviews.
Sport is a spin-off book. This means it focuses on a character from the first book, Simon "Sport" Rocque. It tells more about his family. Sport lives with his father, who is a writer. His father is trying to write a big book instead of earning steady money from articles. Sport manages their money. Their financial problems get worse when Sport's grandfather becomes very sick. He stops sending money to Sport. Things get better when Sport's father meets Kate, who becomes a kind stepmother.
However, Sport's grandfather's will names Sport as the main person to receive a large family fortune. This makes Sport's mother, Charlotte Vane, and her sister very unhappy. Charlotte often lives in Europe and is not around much. She comes back to New York City when she hears her father is sick. She tries to get more of the money for herself. She even kidnaps Sport and keeps him in a hotel for a week.
In 2002, a new sequel called Harriet Spies Again came out. Helen Ericson wrote it. It also got mixed reviews. Another sequel, Harriet the Spy, Double Agent, was published in 2005 by Maya Gold.
Here is a list of the books in the series:
- Harriet the Spy (Harper & Row, 1964)
- The Long Secret (Harper & Row, 1965)
- Sport (Dell Publishing/Delacorte Press, 1979), by Fitzhugh
- Harriet Spies Again (Dell/Delacorte, 2002), by Helen Ericson
- Harriet the Spy, DoubleAgent (Dell/Delacorte, 2005), by Maya Gold
Movies and TV Shows
The book Harriet the Spy has been made into movies and TV shows.
A movie called Harriet the Spy was made in 1996. It starred Michelle Trachtenberg as Harriet. This was the first movie made by Nickelodeon's film company.
In 2004, it was announced that a new live-action Harriet the Spy TV series would be made. It was planned to have at least 22 episodes.
In 2010, Disney Channel aired a different version of the story. It was called Harriet the Spy: Blog Wars. Jennifer Stone played Harriet. Alexander Conti played Sport, and Melinda Shankar played Janie. In this movie, Harriet competes with Marion Hawthorne to see who has a better blog.
In 2020, Apple TV+ announced an animated TV series based on the novel. The Jim Henson Company is producing it. Beanie Feldstein is the voice of Harriet, Jane Lynch is Ole Golly, and Lacey Chabert is Marion Hawthorne.
Selected Translations
The book Harriet the Spy has been translated into many languages around the world. Here are a few examples:
- Harriet - Spionage aller Art (German, 1968)
- Harriet l'Espionne (French, 1980)
- הרייט המרגלת (Hebrew, 1984)
- Professione? Spia! (Italian, 1989)
- スパイになりたいハリエットのいじめ解決法 / Supai ni naritai harietto no ijime kaiketsuhō (Japanese, 1995)
- A Espiã (Portuguese, 1999)
- Spiunia Harrietë (Albanian, 2016)
