Harriet M. Welsch wants to be a spy when she grows up. To practice, she works her spy route every day, peeking in on neighbors and writing down all her observations in her notebook. But the other kids at school get a hold of her notebook and see all the nasty things Harriet has written about them.

I reread this for the "children's book" prompt in the 2019 Reading Women Challenge and it was such a joy to revisit an old favorite. I even found a lot of it maybe even funnier than when I was a kid, since I had a better understanding of all the things the adults said that went over Harriet's head.

I also don't think I realized as a kid how deeply set in New York this book is, and wealthy New York at that. It never occurred to me how rich her family must have been to have a cook and a nanny and a maid!

I did always like that this book made Harriet SO prickly. It takes her a very long time to see what she's done wrong! And yet, her parents don't try to force her to become someone else - they figure out positive ways to channel her energy and interests. It felt sort of like a precursor to today's kids' books that are all about being your unique self.