Harriet the Spy is a terrific book first published back in 1964 and written by Louise Fitzhugh. It is about the 11 year-old Harriet and her combined love of writing and spying. She spies on everyone in her life, her family, her friends, her neighbours and she writes detailed notes about them in her notebook. This is witty and very well written and will appeal to kids aged between 9 and 12.

The book opens with an introduction to Harriet’s life and we find her living in the city with a well to do family. She is determined to be a writer in later life and so she writes all her thoughts down in a notebook which she carries everywhere. She is looked after by her nurse Catherine Golly and she has several friends at school. In order to find things to write about she begins to spy on the people in her local neighbourhood and on her friends and family. Things get tougher for Harriet when her beloved friend and nurse moves away and then her friends find her notebook. They are furious about what Harriet has written and they form the Spy Catcher Club and begin to bully her. Harriet tries to fight back and plans all sorts of revenge but her grades begin to suffer and she only ends up getting into trouble. She is sent to a psychologist by her parents.

The book deals with some important topics for young kids and they can learn through Harriet’s attempts to deal with the loss of a long time friend in the shape of her nurse and her bullying at the hands of her former friends. Harriet’s attempts to right the situation are confused and misguided but they are also very realistic and this is undoubtedly part of the value of the book for young minds still learning to socialise. When her parents manage to find a legitimate outlet for her writing in the shape of the editor job on the class newspaper things begin to improve for Harriet and despite her difficulties everything ends on a happy note. She is reconciled with her friends after taking the correct course of action and apologising to them.

Louise Fitzhugh wrote a number of children’s books but Harriet the Spy was by far her most successful. It was hailed for bringing a new level of realism to children’s literature. The fact that some of the characters are nasty and people make mistakes and do things they regret is positive for kids trying to understand the world because it mirrors reality. Instead of a fantasy world this is a world they can relate to and there have been countless attempts to copy the style over the years since its publication.

Harriet is intelligent and lonely, a predicament that many kids find themselves in and reading this book may make them feel that they are not alone after all. It is most likely to appeal to girls but the issues described within are equally applicable to boys and the comical writing style will appeal to any reader.