Are you comfortable with books that make you think?

books:


	• Harriet the Spy Louise Fitzhugh Yearling, 2001 - 320 pages average customer review:based on 142 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Are you comfortable with books that make you think?

When I was 9 I was finally moved up to the advanced reading group in my class. In order to catch up, I had to read Harriet the Spy in its entirety over Thanksgiving break. I was extremely dismayed, I had never even seen a book so big, much less read one! But, I devoured it in two days. I didn't live in New York and I had never kept a journal, but everything that happened in the book was completely familiar. It was, I think, the first work of literature I had ever read on my own.

Skip ahead 14 years. I reread this book in my local library on a lazy Saturday afternoon. I loved it, but I can understand the qualms expressed by some parents about the book The question is: What is the point of having children read - is it to present them with 2-dimensional models of correct behavior, or else to provoke their thinking, reasoning, and analytical skills? I think it's very telling that a reviewer who gave this book one star literally threw it into the fireplace - this is the type of book that people who hate books burn.

People criticize Harriet for being rude or mean, but I think they are a little off base there. Harriet is a smart 11 year old, but she is an 11 year old just the same. Assigning adult motives and value judgments to her behavior is flat-out unfair. She's just a kid, and this is how kids behave, not when you're around, but on the playground and in the classroom where they are discovering peer interaction.

In fact, this is a very moral story. Harriet learns that there are reasons for lying - it isn't being hypocritical (as adults often do seem to children) but rather to spare other peoples' feelings - sometimes it's better to be kind than to be truthful. Watch the way Harret interacts with her friend Sport: she learns for the first time to show consideration for other peoples' feelings - not because you will get punished, but because they will get hurt, and you do not want to hurt the people you care about, even though so often you inadvertently do. This is a complicated message that the target audience (kids 9-12) are learning IN REAL LIFE which is why the book resonates with so many readers of that age (and beyond).

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The BEST book i've EVER read in my life...

Harriet the spy iis my favorite book EVER. It has been since i was 6, and i still love it. Its so hard to explain it in words..you just might have to read it yourself

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fun

this book is excitiinig and shows alot of fellings.some times I think this book was made for me. this is my first book I've read that Luis has wrote.thats what I think about this book and I hope I will find more of his books . He has a great taste of writing .

Fun reading for those who like spys

Harriet the Spy is about a girl named Harriet, who likes to take notes on everyone and also likes to spy. One day, the kids in her class get a hold of the notebook that she writes in and they read all the notes in it. I really liked the beginning when Harriet is spying, but the book peters off.

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fun

This book is excitiinig and shows alot of fellings.Some times I think this book was made for me. This is my first book I've read that Luis has wrote.Thats what I think about this book ,and I hope I will find more of his books . He has a great taste of writing .

reviews: 1, 2, page 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

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