'Harriet the Spy' celebrates its fiftieth anniversary
The childhood sleuth Harriet Welsch appeared on the literary scene 50 years ago and publisher Delacorte will release a 50th anniversary edition of Louise Fitzhugh鈥檚 children鈥檚 novel 鈥淗arriet the Spy鈥� in honor of the occasion.
鈥淗arriet鈥� follows the girl of the same name, an 11-year-old who lives in New York City and loves to observe her friends and neighbors, writing down what she sees in her notebook. However, she finds herself being ostracized by her peers when they find her notebook and read her harsh opinions of them. The anniversary edition will be released on Feb. 25.
Fitzhugh released two other novels set in Harriet鈥檚 world, one, titled 鈥淭he Long Secret,鈥� in 1965, and another, 鈥淪port,鈥� which focused on Harriet鈥檚 best friend, in 1979. 鈥淪port鈥� was released after Fitzhugh鈥檚 death. 鈥淗arriet鈥� was also adapted into a film starring Michelle Trachtenberg and Rosie O鈥橠onnell in 1996.
Beth Horowitz, vice-president and publisher of Delacorte Press, edited the anniversary edition of 鈥淗arriet鈥� and recalled that some critics were shocked at the time by Harriet鈥檚 rowdy behavior.
鈥淎 lot of people at the time were horrified that this girl threw a shoe at her father, had a tantrum, and didn鈥檛 want to apologize for all the things that I believe make her so interesting and honest 鈥� and a real individual,鈥� Horowitz told . 鈥淥f course a lot of reviewers loved the novel and instantly got it, but there was certainly some negativity, mostly about the fact that Harriet wasn鈥檛 a good little girl.鈥�
The new edition of the book will have a letter from Fitzhugh鈥檚 editor to the author that she wrote when 鈥淗arriet鈥� was first released, writings on the book by 14 children鈥檚 book industry staff, and a map of the path Harriet takes to spy on people.
Author Judy Blume鈥檚 recollections about the book are some of the ones included in the anniversary copy.
鈥淔inding Harriet as a young writer in the mid-1960s was inspiring,鈥� Blume told PW. 鈥淚t meant I wasn鈥檛 the only one who wanted to tell stories about kids who were real. Louise Fitzhugh remembered what it was like to grow up and wasn鈥檛 afraid to write about it. She was one of the authors who most inspired me, who continues to inspire me.鈥�
