Harriet Spies

by Elana K. Arnold, Taylor Meskimen (Read by)

Overview

The unforgettable star of Just Harriet returns for another mystery on Marble Island, from award-winning author Elana K. Arnold.

There are a few things you should know about Harriet Wermer:

• She always tells the truth.
• She’s loving spending her summer on Marble Island, where she is an A+ mystery-solver.
• Okay, maybe she doesn’t always tell the truth.
• Actually…she has a tendency to lie quite a bit.

Which is why, when one of the guests at her grandmother’s bed-and-breakfast finds that their treasured pair of binoculars has gone missing, no one believes Harriet when she said she had nothing to do with it. But this is one time Harriet isn’t lying—and she knows that if she can find the binoculars and figure out who really took them, she can prove it. 

With her cat, Matzo Ball, her grandmother’s basset hound, Moneypenny, and Harriet’s new friend, Clarence, helping her out, Harriet knows she can crack the case. But when the culprit isn’t who Harriet expects, it’s up to her to decide how important the truth really is.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798212204743
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	02/07/2023
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 5.70(h) x 0.00(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Elana K. Arnold is the award-winning author of many books for children and teens, including The House That Wasn’t There, the Printz Honor winner Damsel, the National Book Award finalist What Girls Are Made Of, and the Global Read Aloud selection A Boy Called Bat. She is a member of the faculty at Hamline University’s MFA in writing for children and young adults program, and lives in Long Beach, CA, with her husband, two children, and a menagerie of animals. You can find her online at www.elanakarnold.com.

Taylor Meskimen is an actress and a narrator. Her audiobook readings include several L. Ron Hubbard novels, such as Gun Boss of Tumbleweed and Death Waits at Sundown.

Editorial Reviews

"A quiet read for those seeking a gentle slice-of-life story." — Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

2023-02-08
In this follow-up to Just Harriet (2022), the protagonist is spending the summer with her grandmother when she finds herself at the center of a mystery.

Harriet is staying with Nanu on Marble Island while her father works and her pregnant mother is on bed rest. There is a lot to do at Nanu’s Bric-a-Brac bed-and-breakfast, but the best things are all the guests, especially regulars like the Captain, an ornithologist who researches loggerhead shrikes. She has the most pockets and the coolest tools of any grown-up Harriet has ever seen. Unfortunately, the Captain’s prized binoculars go missing the same day Harriet has her yard sale. Even more unfortunately, the Captain and Nanu seem to think Harriet may have something to do with their disappearance—and not without reason. Harriet may have had some issues with honesty in the past. As she sets out to find the binoculars and clear her name, Harriet befriends local boy Clarence, who agrees to help her on her quest. Clarence ultimately plays the role of Harriet’s moral compass as she learns what it means to be honest and a good friend. Her voice and internal struggle with truth-telling are genuine even if the messaging is heavy-handed. The adult characters also feel a bit flat, and the Marble Island setting is rather bland. Sweet spot art breaks up the text. Harriet reads White; Clarence and his family are Black.

A quiet read for those seeking a gentle slice-of-life story. (Fiction. 6-9)

Kirkus Reviews