Harriet the Spy (Book One)

For children in Middle Grade (8-12)

Originally published in 1964

It’s no secret that Harriet the Spy is a timeless classic that kids will love! Every day can be an adventure if you just look carefully enough!

Harriet M. Welsch is a spy. In her notebook, she writes down everything she knows about everyone, even her classmates & her best friends. Then Harriet loses track of her notebook, & it ends up in the wrong hands. Before she can stop them, her friends have read the always truthful, sometimes awful things she’s written about each of them. Will Harriet find a way to put her life & her friendships back together?

"Harriet was the first cool female protagonist I'd ever encountered. A sad but feisty loner who wanted to be a writer, who spied on people & took notes, & had to apologize for hurting people's feelings appealed to the embryonic writer inside of me." - Author Miriam Toews

“What the novel showed me as a child is that words have the power to hurt, but they can also heal, & that it’s much better in the long run to use this power for good than for evil.” — New York Times bestselling author Meg Cabot

Louise Fitzhugh (1928-1974) was born in Memphis, Tennessee. She attended Bard College, studied art in Italy & France, & continued her studies in New York at the Art Students League & at Cooper Union. Harriet the Spy was her first novel for children.