Louise Fitzhugh’s Harriet the Spy was my first brush with the notion that writers were spies. At nine I was Harriet, furiously scribbling in my notebook as I peered under gates and through knot-holed fences in my neighborhood. I spied on my family too. Great fun, until my intelligence activities were discovered. Writers are natural…
All the buzz has been about the latest James Bond flick this fall—who doesn’t want to disappear into the world of spies, even if it’s just in your imagination? Guess what: kids love all things spy too. Looking for a good fast-paced spy book for your middle-grader? Here’s a list to get you started: The…
When I was in fourth grade the coolest kid I knew was Harriet the Spy, the sixth grade heroine, age 11, of the eponymous children’s book by Louise Fitzhugh, published in 1964. Harriet’s an obnoxious brat with OCD traits who takes notes on everyone and everything around her. She doesn’t just take notes, she adds…
