Harriet the Spy, Double Agent

I feel a certain loyalty to Harriet, since the original Harriet the Spy was one of my favorite books as a kid. I had my doubts about the two sequels, each written by different authors after Louis Fitzhugh's too-soon death, but both did a fairly good job of staying true to the spirit of Harriet.Harriet the Spy Double Agent, is a bit better than Harriet spies Again, because Harriet is more her old note-taking self and spends more time talking to Sport, who himself is going through his own turmoil what with his dad's new wife, being in love, and sprouting a few facial hairs. Double Agent also hints (maybe as a tribute to Fitzhugh?) at Harriet's budding sexuality as she discovers and ruminates about her own feelings about Sport, Ole Golly, and her new intriguing friend and spy partner, Annie Smith, who has created three names and personalities for herself and has a few secrets of her own.Harriet Spies Again (which comes before Double Agent, if you want to read them in order) feels a little empty, as there is very little spying, note taking or interaction with Harriet's friends, and the whole Ole Golly reunion falls kind of flat. Also, it may have been less obvious what was going on with Ole Golly to a younger reader, but to me it was pretty predictable.Missing from both books is Fitzhugh's wry wit, but these sequels are worth a read if, as a now-grown adult fan, you can ignore that feeling that you're visiting a ghost. It's nice, but leaves you feeling a tiny bit melancholy.

Harriet the Spy books are a great read. We especially enjoy reading them together they are also great for read to self time.

grandkids want older harder to find books. thanks for the assist.

My son enjoys this series.It's a mystery with a decent plot. Throughout the story it gives you clues and the mystery is revealed in the end. So it keeps you entertained until the end. It's one of those books that you can't put down so you can solve the mystery. Great to keep young minds entertained and it is very well written.

No fault of the author, Harriet was growing up and you could read the innocence of her spying slowly drifting away.

perfect for classroom project

Harriet spies on her friends and writes things about them in her notebook. One of her friends gets a hold of her book and they all get upset with her. Then something real happens and only Harriet can help.A great mystery book for the kid who loves them. Despite the title it's not just a girl's book.I got this for my grand kid. Yes it stands the test of time nicely.

We were expecting a book authored by Louise Fitzhugh, as she was listed as the first auther. This book is actually "based on characters created by..."

This is the second in the reboots of Harriet The Spy, after Harriet Spies Again. I would definitely recommend reading Harriet the Spy first (obviously) but I would also recommend reading Spies Again, as some things in this book won't make sense otherwise.This is also shorter than Spies Again, so it does finish quite abruptly. Despite being published in 2007, there have been no further spin offs or follow ups to this and Spies Again, which is quite disappointing. Perhaps the sales were not what they'd hoped for. They are good, but as I mentioned in my Spies Again review, I don't think they quite captured the magic (or the verging on fanatical note taking.)This also starts to show the characters growing up, which was previously touched upon in Spies Again (for reference, I have not read The Long Secret as yet, and i know that deals with more puberty issues) with Sport growing hair. His voice is mentioned by Harriet as changing and even Janie reappears in this book. Her character has been completely changed, from the wanting-to-blow-up-the-world-science-crazy-girl, to a popstar obsessed tweenager. I do think Janie was a sadly forgotten about character in the previous book, and I don't particularly like the severe change of her personality and her attitude towards Harriet at times. However, Sport is still floating around, but Harriet is experiencing the changes of her peers, and wondering/fearing if the same will happen to her.I have found that Spies Again and Double Agent do tend the miss the most important point of what made the original book so popular - Harriet spends less and less time writing in her notebooks, and even less time spying on her regulars. (Although she does tend to unlock the "toy box" that they're kept in and stroke the spines/re-read some of them.) I miss the stories of her adventures in the dumbwaiter and sneaking up on people, to snatch part of their lives/conversations to include in her notebooks. She does still write in her notebook in this, but it was too few and far between for my liking.Ole Golly is also sadly missing from this, apart from a couple of letters sent from Montreal, and Cook is also missing from the majority of the book. These were big characters in the original book and Spies Again, I just felt like Double Agent could have been longer, or spent less time on Annie.Most of the book is taken up of the mystery of Annie/Yolanda/Rosarita/Zoe/Cassandra and who she's sneaking off to see. It is good that the authors of these spin off books feel confident to introduce new characters into Harriet's world, but Annie annoyed me a little bit, and just rubbed me (and Harriet) up the wrong way. If I had been Harriet, I would have gone back to Sport in a heartbeat.There's also a slight will-they-won't-they between Harriet and Sport, again, showing the passage of time, and how they're starting to develop feelings. Not much is made of it though, and I'm not sure if Louise Fitzhugh would be spinning in her grave at this thought or not.It will be interesting to see how The Long Secret compares to these spin offs, especially as that was a direct sequel by Fitzhugh. As much as I grew up loving Harriet The Spy, I just don't feel like the spark is there for these two books. Bring back the notebooks!​