Customer Reviews

The Long Secret (Harriet the Spy Adventures)

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I got this book when I was a child and I thought it was a scream! I actually laughed so hard it hurt!

Beth-Ellen, Harriet's shy and retiring friend is the perfect foil to the outspoken, brash, wonderfully assertive Harriet of Harriet the Spy fame. Both girls have summer homes in Water Mill, Long Island, their families' retreat from Manhattan when school gets out. Beth-Ellen lives with her kindly grandmother, who has some rather neanderthal ideas about imparting information concerning puberty, but who is a nice sort after all.

Harriet has not put down her pen and notebook. Seems that somebody else has taken up writing that summer. Quotes from the Bible and parodies of Scripture are seen throughout the Water Mill community. Naturally suspicion turns to a summer girl named Jessie who aspires to be a preacher when she grows up. Chock full of Biblical knowledge, Jessie has a morbidly obese mother and twin brother and a cute preschool sister. There is no mention of a father.

Beth-Ellen, on the other hand becomes reacquainted with her mother. Seems that Beth-Ellen's mother was a society lady, preferring parties and travel to raising a child. Beth-Ellen's natural father left some years earlier.

The reunion is a bust. Beth-Ellen's mother, Zeeney, is just as flighty and superficial as ever. Her stepfather just says "hup" and loves martinis. They try to make Beth-Ellen over, straightening her hair and choosing her clothes and insisting that she leave her grandmother and come with them. Beth-Ellen refuses, wins her case and Harriet cracks THE case -- the identity of the Secret Writer!

This book is a riot!

If you want to keep your kids dumb, silly, sticky-faced, and ready to swallow everything our current corporate-media society is ready to throw down their throats for the rest of their lives, don't let them read this book -- get them Helen Ericson's soulless Harriet Spies Again instead.

Would you let your children read Shakespeare? Would you let them read Dickens? Hubert Selby? Charles Bukowski? Would you let them listen to Lennon or Lou Reed or Dylan or Pink Floyd? Would you let them eat organic brussels sprouts? Would you take them to Bryce Canyon? Would you give them a camera? Would you let them close the bedroom door? Would you let them cry without giving them "something to really cry about"? Would you turn off the TV? Do I sound like a pseudointellectual yet?

It's a seriously great book. I'm a cranky thirty-year-old guy who cries as I root for Beth Ellen Hansen to find herself. I find Harriet M. Welsch even funnier as a supporting character than I did in her starring role. I long for a wise Rodger Welsch to set me straight without spoiling my innocence, and I gape in awe at Mrs. Welsch's wit in the face of the appalling Zeeney. Thank you, Grandmother, for not making me go to Paris. Thank you, Janie, for dispelling my superstitions. And thank you, Harriet, for busting me!

Thank you, LOUISE! Rest in peace -- since ghosts evidently do not have the power to possess living writers.

In third grade my third grade teacher decided to read us the beginning of "Harriet the Spy." While she got as far as when Janie tells Harriet about dancing school, she had the sequel, "The Long Secret", in the book corner of our classroom, and only one person knew about it: me. Since that day in third grade when I noticed the copy, I've read it a hundred times if not more. Who can't resist the rough and tumble Jenkins family or Zeeney or Wallace ("Hup!"). Or Bunny or Agatha or Harriet or Beth Ellen? Your life will be changed after reading it. Trust me.

I think if a child is going to read this book, that the parent shoud read it either first, or along with the child, and discuss it with the child. I LOVED Harriet the Spy, both as a child, as an adult. When I bought Harriet the Spy for my dauughter, I saw this book, and bought it, too, sight unseen. I have just read it, and am quite surprised that the topics discussed in this book could have been published in 1965, when society was more conservative today. I did not like the chapter on Janie having her period. Not that I object to the subject being discussed--I just didn't like the presentation of it in this book. I think what I found disturbing about this book are the particular identity issues it brings up. Maybe it touched too closely on some things I found disturbing as a child. I was shocked with the actions and behavior of some of the adult characters in the book--I didn't like it at all. However, I will concede that by the end of the book, the behavior of the characters I didn't like was completely discredited, and Beth Ellen REALLY ends up growing as a person in this book--that's what this book is all about. I was VERY surprised how the mystery of the notes ended--I didn't expect it, and that was excellent. I think Louise Fitzhugh tied up all the ends very well, and makes some excellent moral points for kids to think about. Another issue in this book is the extreme rudeness of Harriet's behavior--her behavior in the first book didn't bother me at all--but in this book it did. At least her extreme rudeness is pointed out to kids for them to think about (I'm not talking about her spying on people--I'm talking about the way she SPEAKS to people, and the way she treats her FRIENDS). Even though the book disturbed me, I felt it WAS well-written, and had some important points to make. I would recommend it, but would suggest parents read it, too, and discuss it with their children.

I am a creative writing major in college and I reread Louise Fitzhugh's Harriet The Spy, Sport and especially The Long Secret over and over again. Her writing is unflinching, honest, observant and doesn't make young adults "childlike". Her characters are so very real, they express the good, the bad, and the funny of being human.

The Long Secret By Louise Fitzhugh contains many surprising twists and turns. It takes place in the small town of Water Mill during the summer and is about a 12- year- old spy named Harriet and her best friend, Beth Ellen, who are trying to figure out who is leaving mysterious notes everywhere.

The story begins when Harriet and Beth Ellen are at the local supermarket buying some cookies. After they pay the clerk for the cookies, she reaches into the cash register's drawer to give them change, but instead of pulling out money, she pulls out a note. Written awkwardly on the scrap of paper with a red crayon are the words `Jesus Hates You'. This is only the start of a whole barrage of letters that turn up, each with an appropriate saying on them that matches the life of the person who receives them. Although the letters did match the person receiving them, I found some of the religious messages to be offensive and strong. When Harriet finally gets one, she decides that it is time to take action, and she drags Beth Ellen, and Jamie, another friend of hers, into the middle of the situation.

Since most of the notes have religious sayings on them, Harriet comes to the conclusion that a religious fanatic is leaving them all over town, and her first suspect is a country girl, Jessie Mae, who is obsessed with the Bible. In case her first suspicion isn't right, she even has a back-up suspect - The Preacher. The Preacher is a tall, African American man who Harriet thinks could easily be slipping the notes into cash registers or dresser drawers because of his innocent appearance and his humble kindness to all. Even though her assumptions about the note writer may be right, I don't think that Harriet should be quick to jump to conclusions and suspect people of doing something just because they like to do an activity or have a certain style.

However, solving a mystery isn't easy, and by the middle of the story Harriet has only a few clues to help her determine the culprit. The plot thickens when Beth Ellen's parents, Zeeney and Wallace, come back from Paris and want to take her with them when they return. In this situation, I was surprised how their coming made Beth Ellen stronger, and I liked the fact that she handled the situation well, even when Zeeney got a little out of control.

As Harriet and her friends uncover more pieces to the puzzle, they also uncover themselves and reveal characteristics that they have never shown before. Will they be able to solve the mystery, or will they be stumped and forced to break up their investigation? Check out The Long Secret to find out the exciting details and the enticing ending!

I enjoyed this book because it had suspense and action, and I recommend that you read it if you like mysteries and want to know about Harriet's later adventures.

Mary Kate LA-6

If you loved HTS, you'll definitely love this book. Beth-Ellen was the last person I expected the brash, outspoken Harriet to form a friendship with. The descriptions of BE's jet-setting, superficial socialite of a mother and her fussy boyfriend are a scream! And the sign-writing culprit was the last person I suspected.

My father gave me this book to read when he was our church librarian. My name is Beth Ellen so he thought it would be fun for me to read about another girl with my name. I was so hooked on this book that I read it over and over again. That was about twenty-five years ago. I have told my daughter about it but didn't think I would ever be able to find it again. Thanks Amazon! I can't wait for her to experience the same joy and excitement that I did when reading this book!

The Long Secret is the sequel to Harriet The Spy. Published in 1965, it is primarily the story of Beth Ellen Hansen, Harriet's schoolmate and summertime best friend in Water Mill, on Long Island. The setting is rather exclusive: all the characters seem to be highly affluent (even Mama Jenkins drives a Maserati), living in a summer resort with a country club, large beach houses, and multitudes of servants. But the story is universal and even more applicable now than forty five years ago.

Beth Ellen's parents are divorced. Her father never appears, and her mother is a flighty Society lady who is constantly traveling and partying. Beth Ellen lives with her grandmother and leads a quiet, not very happy life with no aims or ambitions until one day when her mother shows up and starts taking her in hand. Beth Ellen, who is already starting to rebel as she begins to mature physically and emotionally, learns to stand up for herself and acquires new direction and focus.

Harriet M. Welsch is primarily an observer in this book, but she still keeps a notebook and continues to make some astute and often funny comments on the foibles of the adult world. Janie Gibbs also returns, plus there are several new characters, primarily the Jenkins family, eccentric Southerners who provide some comic relief.

The themes of friendship and growing maturity are well conceived and described here, as are some fine reflections on religious belief, and the lampooning of High Society is absolutely hilarious. It will appeal to children who are starting to recognize that the world they are growing into is less orderly than they might have once believed. Adults who read it again after many years will remember why they loved it as children and also recognize deeper insights they may not have fully understood before.

I liked this book; it had many interesting and complex parts. First, one of my opinions- I think that Harriet talks very rudely to her friends and to others. She really needs to tone down her emotions and act more like the sensible and polite girl that I know she can be.

Ok... now for the actual summary part of my review...

The book mostly focuses on Beth Ellen, Harriet's "summer" best friend when Sport and Jamie aren't around. Through out the story, Beth Ellen and Harriet make new friends (like Jessie Mae, a poor country girl), and Beth Ellen's long-lost mother comes back from Paris with her new husband, Wallace. By the end of the tale, together, Beth Ellen and Harriet have solved a huge mystery and become closer than they were before. Check out The Long Secret By Louise Fitzhugh to find out the rest of the story!

- A Happy Reader