From: jzuckerman at nypl.org <jzuckerman>
Date: Wed, 3 Jul 1996 12:15:23 -0400

I also read HARRIET THE SPY as a child, and admired/envied her
     independence and spunk, and felt the same stomach-churning Gretchen
     described when Harriet's notebook is read aloud. I also admired
     Harriet because she knows she is a Writer, and needs to write the same
     way she needs to eat and sleep. It's almost as if Harriet needs to
     write in order to fully understand what she feels -- her emotions pour
     out on the page, for herself and the reader. Maybe part of the reason
     so many readers identify and empathize with Harriet is because we know
     we're reading her raw, innermost thoughts -- in her own words. I agree
     with KT that it's pretty amazing an adult could write so believably and
     honestly the thoughts of an 11-year-old.
     
     I also appreciated Harriet's relationship with Ole Golly, and
     Harriet's sense of loss when Ole Golly leaves. I also had a
     nurse/nanny whom I loved, confided in, and who understood me
     completely, and who left me (when I was 7, about 2 years before I read
     HARRIET). Reading about Harriet's ordeal made me feel as if someone
     finally understood what I had gone through.
     
     Judy Zuckerman
     New York Public Library
     jzuckerman at nypl.org
Received on Wed 03 Jul 1996 11:15:23 AM CDT