Because everyone and their dog seems to love Harriet the Spy, I gave it another go. I had enough sense this time to not read it aloud to Tesfa so I could form my own opinions without having to skip over sections inappropriate for a five year old.
Here are my good/bad thoughts.
Good: The book is well-written. It isn’t smaltzy and it doesn’t talk down to children. It doesn’t assume they are stupid. And, as an adult reading it, it isn’t eye-gougingly tedious (I’m looking at you Magic Treehouse stories that Tesfa loves and that I am eagerly awaiting until she is literate enough to read herself).
Bad: I know in my previous complaint post regarding Harriet the Spy, I said I’d read Harriet the Spy before. I don’t actually think that’s true. I think I read The Long Secret because I remember there being a beach and the cover of The Long Secret seems to be a beach, and the internet also tells me that The Long Secret has less to do with Harriet and more to do with Beth Ellen, one of the minor characters in Harriet the Spy. So oops on my memory.
Good: Even though we stopped reading it together when we got to the DOES HIS MOTHER HATE HIM? IF I HAD HIM, I’D HATE HIM part in the first twenty pages (which is also put on the back cover as a, I don’t know, advertisement for this book?), Tesfa asks about it all the time. When are we going to read the spy book again? she asks me. I need to return my copy to the library because I have run out of excuses.
Bad: The kids in this book are cruel. A lot of the time they act like nasty little hellions. And not just Harriet. They say mean things, they hit each other, the throw things at each other. I understand that people, kids in particular, are antisocial monsters, but did no one ever say to any of these kids If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all? Or maybe Don’t throw pencils at people? (this happens frequently in Harriet the Spy). I tell Tesfa she doesn’t have to like everyone, she doesn’t have to go out of her way to be nice to people she doesn’t like, but she still has to treat them respectfully. I have a feeling that if I read her the rest of Harriet the Spy now, my lessons will go right out the window because the vague anarchy in Harriet the Spy is far more exciting than me nagging her to be respectful of other people.
Good: I actually enjoyed Harriet the Spy. I would rate it 4/5.
Bad: The lesson at the end: Harriet is told either to lie or apologize. So she lies and to an extent, everything returns to normal. What the fuck poor lesson is that? If you do something hurtful, intentionally or not, just lie and then everything will get better? Not really what I was hoping for. Harriet having to apologize for her behaviour, to learn that actions have consequences, that other people, even if she doesn’t think so, do matter, nope. Just lie. Problems solved.
Good: Ignoring the rather antiquated parental roles (mother’s going to the salon and playing bridge all day, sure), the kids are relatively gender-free without a lot of negative backlash about it. Harriet dresses in pants, Janie does science experiments, Sport cooks, all the children (minus Harriet) come together to build a fort, all the students are expected to dance in the school play, etc.
Bad: Everyone in this book seems to be rich and white. It’s a very thin slice of life. It might be why no one seems to mind the kids being themselves as they are rich enough that it doesn’t matter.
Good: I’m kind of running out of the good here.
Bad: Harriet hates math. I can’t really get behind anyone who hates math. Math is awesome.
So I read Harriet the Spy and now I can complain as much as I want because I read the whole damn thing and I am informed. Because of the quality of the writing and the non-standard gender roles, I can’t help but feel a lot of people are giving this book a pass to ignore a lot of the book’s problematic issues. Harriet’s curiosity and intelligence doesn’t give her the right to be a dick with only short-term, rather than long-term consequences. Likely, I’m in the minority here and oddly, since I did really like the book. I would rather Tesfa be as bland and kind as Beth Ellen then as thoughtless and cruel as Harriet.