History Literature / HarrietTheSpy

* DeadpanSnarker: Harriet. Ole Golly at one point even tells her "Don't be snarky."

''Harriet the Spy'' is a 1964 book by Louise Fitzhugh about [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a girl named Harriet who likes to spy on neighbors.]] Two sequels were written by Fitzhugh--''The Long Secret'', published the year after ''Harriet'', and ''Sport'', which was published after Fitzhugh's death. Several other sequels were written afterward by ghost authors. The original was adapted into a movie in 1996 starring Creator/MichelleTrachtenberg as Harriet and Rosie O'Donnell as Ole Golly, which is notably the first theatrical film from Creator/{{Nickelodeon}}; as well as into the movie ''Film/HarrietTheSpyBlogWars'' in 2010. A 2D animated series, produced by Creator/{{Titmouse}} and The Creator/JimHenson Company is set to debut on Creator/AppleTVPlus November 19.

* AndThenWhat: Sport brings this up after Harriet in the newspaper talks about the club, and implies that "certain other people won't want to play a certain game and drink tea." Since Harriet is no longer a problem, there's no reason for the Spy-Catching Club to exist, and there's no reason to be ''playing bridge'' and drinking tea. Rachel and Marion refuse to discuss the issue, saying that people who don't want to join can leave. [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor Everyone promptly does]], except for Laura Peters and Carrie Andrews. Shy Beth Ellen even fires off a TakeThat, snapping "I don't give a hang. I never wanted to and besides, I ''hate'' bridge."

* AwkwardSilence: Happens in a Spy-Catchers Club meeting when Rachel tells her friends about the note Harriet sent to her mother claiming that no one in the class likes Rachel and they're only there for Mrs. Hennessey's homemade cake. No one speaks up to disprove this claim (not even Marion!) and Pinky Whitehead chimes in with: [[ComicallyMissingThePoint "Well, it's very good cake."]]

* EndangeredSouffle: Harriet deliberately stomps in the middle of the floor to mess up the cake that the cook is making.

One thing about Harriet, though: she's extremely secretive about the contents of her notebook. No one knows what she writes in it, and for good reason--very few things she writes in it are flattering. They might be true, but they're uncomfortable truths. Sport is poor and does the cooking and housework for his dad, who is a starving writer -- his mother left and took all the money. Janie is scary and wants to make explosive chemicals with her chemistry set. Rachel Hennessey, the assistant to the AlphaBitch, has no father. Harriet's own parents are more concerned with their lives than with their daughter. Harriet writes down everything, not just the nice stuff.

''Harriet the Spy'' is a 1964 book by Louise Fitzhugh about [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a girl named Harriet who likes to spy on neighbors.]] Two sequels were written by Fitzhugh--''The Long Secret'', published the year after ''Harriet'', and ''Sport'', which was published after Fitzhugh's death. Several other sequels were written afterward by ghost authors. The original was adapted into a movie in 1996 starring Creator/MichelleTrachtenberg as Harriet and Rosie O'Donnell as Ole Golly, which is notably the first theatrical film from Creator/{{Nickelodeon}}; as well as into the movie ''Film/HarrietTheSpyBlogWars'' in 2010.

* ChildrenAreCruel: The ways in which Harriet's classmates retaliate against her for the hurtful things she said in her notebook, but ''especially'' the ways in which Harriet herself retaliates against them by hitting them in their sore spots - hiding a frog in Marion's desk knowing that Marion hates frogs; making rude comments to Rachel about her missing father; and so on.
** Some of the things Harriet writes about her classmates in her notebook fall under this too, such as hoping to kick some of them for no reason, bashing Janie's dream of being a scientist, and calling Sport a "little old woman" for constantly worrying about his father. The film makes a few even worse, like shaming Sport for being poor and wondering why Sport's writer father doesn't get a "''real'' job", and suggesting The Boy with the Purple Socks should hang himself; in the book, she only says he is boring.

** Also Laura Peters is said to be ugly by Harriet; in the movie Harriet refers to her as having a face that looks "pinched". Rachel Hennessy in a book illustration is portrayed as a white nerd in glasses and messy hair; the movie has her as a polished (for a 6th grader) preppie who is [[RaceLift Asian American]].

* AndThenWhat: Sport brings this up after Harriet in the newspaper talks about the club, and implies that "certain other people won't want to play a certain game and drink tea." Since Harriet is no longer a problem, there's no reason for the Spy-Catching Club to exist, and there's no reason to be ''playing bridge'' and drinking tea. Rachel and Marion refuse to discuss the issue, saying that people who don't want to join can leave. [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor Everyone promptly does]], except for Laura Peters and Carrie Andrews. Shy Beth Ellen even fires off a TakeThat, snapping "I don't give a hang. I never wanted to and besides I ''hate'' bridge."

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: The rich crazy lady is Mrs. Agatha K. Plumber, who one day announces she's discovered the secret of life: to stay in bed all the time and never leave it for anything or anyone (further justifying it by claiming she's using her free time to decide on a career). Then, she's told by her doctor that she is to be bedridden for the rest of her life, and is devastated. Eventually she is told the diagnosis was a mistake, and Mrs. Plumber ends up spending her time doing ''anything'' but staying in bed, including parties and charity work. Harriet is convinced the doctor was tricking Mrs. Plumber to get her out of bed all along.

** Some of the things Harriet writes about her classmates in her notebook fall under this too, such as hoping to kick some of them for no reason, bashing Janie's dream of being a scientist, and calling Sport a "little old woman" for constantly worrying about his father. The film makes a few even worse, like shaming Sport for being poor and wondering why Sport's writer father doesn't get a "''real'' job", and suggesting The Boy with the Purple Socks should hang himself; in the book she only says he is boring.

* KarmaHoudini: Harriet's teacher Miss Elson, who (perhaps unwittingly) bullies her as badly as (and in some cases ''worse'' than) the children. She is never caught by another adult and therefore never punished for her actions, though Harriet causing "bedlam" by putting a frog in Marion Hawthorne's desk sends her on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

* AdaptationalAttractiveness: Carrie Andrews in the book was noted by Harriet to be overweight and not very attractive, this changes in the film where she is a BetaBitch (she is seen hanging out with Marion and Rachel)and her body bulk seems to be in her bustline to the delight of her male classmates.
** Also Laura Peters is said to be ugly by Harriet while in the movie Harriet refers to her as having a face that looks "pinched" and in a book illustration Rachel is portrayed as a white nerd in glasses and messy hair while the movie has her as a polished (for a 6th grader) preppie who is Asian American.

** The film features Miss Elson less but she plays a much more neutral role instead of favoring some students over others like in the book. At the end, Harriet writes [[spoiler: in the sixth grade newsletter as editor]] that Miss Elson should get a raise for what she had to endure as their teacher that year.

* AdultsAreUseless: No grown-up in this story was wise enough to see under Marion's mask. Especially Miss Elson. Arguably the only adults in the book who aren't are Ole Golly and the psychiatrist.

* AndThenWhat: Sport brings this up after Harriet in the newspaper talks about the club, and implies that "certain other people won't want to play a certain game and drink tea." Since Harriet is no longer a problem, there's no reason for the Spy-Catching Club to exist, and there's no reason to be ''playing bridge'' and drinking tea. Rachel and Marion refuse to discuss the issue, saying that people who don't want to join can leave. [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor Everyone promptly does]], except for Laura Peters and Carrie Andrews.

* BetaBitch: Rachel Hennessey, she is the plus one to Marion Hawthorne and lents her yard for the clubhouse.
** In the movie, Carrie Andrews goes from fat girl to a girl that is seen with Rachel and Marion in the beginning.

** Some of the things Harriet writes about her classmates in her notebook fall under this too, such as hoping to kick some of them for no reason, bashing Janie's dream of being a scientist, and calling Sport a "little old woman" for constantly worrying about his father. The film makes a few even worse, like shaming Sport for being poor and wondering why Sport's writer father doesn't get a "''real'' job", and suggesting The Boy with the Purple Socks should hang himself.
* ChildrenRaiseYou: In both book and film, Sport's father is a neurotic up-and-coming writer, and [[MissingMom his mother is out of the picture]]; Sport takes care of the cooking, housework and bills.

* DisappearedDad: Rachel Hennessey (Marion Hawthorne in the film). Also Harriet, in an interesting way. When her father isn't at work, he's mostly unavailable. He does greet her when he comes home from work, and he tries to help her with her MethodActing homework for dramatics class.
* DoubleEntendre: When Harriet spies on Ole Golly during her date, her boyfriend takes her to a German restaurant. Harriet knows Ole Golly hates German food, and expects her to complain about it when she asks her about the date. However, when Harriet does so, Ole Golly said it was a wonderful restaurant, and she tried several new types of wurst. Harriet, baffled, wonders if part of being in love is eating a lot of sausages.

* FinaglesLaw: Harriet goes to talk to Janie and Sport after she sees a child psychologist. Unfortunately, Janie drops a corrosive chemical by accident and refuses to talk to Harriet when the latter offers to help clean it up. Sport in the meantime is celebrating with his dad about the latter selling a book. Although Harriet is trying to make peace, his dad keeps interrupting and invites her to a celebratory dinner—which Sport immediately says, [[BigNo "NO!"]] to. It's not until the end of the book that the three become friends again.
* FreeRangeChildren: In the movie, the children are only 11, yet they wander aimlessly around town with little to no concern from their parents. The book may have been written in the 60s, but since the movie was clearly set in the 90s, it was a bit jarring to see.

* JoblessParentDrama: Harriet's friend Sport lives with his dad, who is a struggling writer who can never seem to find work. The drama comes from the fact that Sport is explicitly said to be poor several times.

* MoodWhiplash: The story starts out as a pretty enjoyable and humorous story about a girl who spies on eccentric people who have pretty interesting stories, and has a fairly good life, having two fun best friends: MadScientist girl named Janie who is quite smart and fun, and an Adorkable boy named Sport, a fun and caring nanny named Golly who fills in her for her caring but busy rich parents, and is also rich. But once Golly leaves to marry her boyfriend (and because she felt Harriet was too old for her by now) in a pretty sad way, the story gets ''really'' depressing, with Harriet going from a happy and generally lucky young girl to a total ButtMonkey. A cascade of accidents and tragedies leave her an antisocial outcast, and her parents end up taking her to a psychiatrist (almost unheard-of in those days for a child, and very stigmatizing; it meant that you were "crazy"). Things get better in the end though.

* NoSympathy: Harriet gets none after her notebook is read, even though she's subject to severe bullying and several pranks. It was quite cathartic to read of her KickTheSonOfABitch moments during her {{Revenge}} and for the parents to finally understand that she needs her notebook and she needs to write when confiscating the book makes her go on a ExtremeMeleeRevenge.

** Harriet's parents may have a lot of money, and they had smarts in professional life (at least Harriet's dad does -- her mom seems intelligent but just a socialite), but they are completely clueless as to what to do when Harriet starts getting bullied and failing school because before only Ole Golly would take care of their daughter. It takes Harriet's ExtremeMeleeRevenge to indicate that their methods didn't work, though fortunately a child psychologist is able to diagnose that she needs an outlet.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Harriet gives an absolutely soul-crushing one to Marion in the film, revealing that all the stories she tells about doing special fancy things with her father are lies and that she hasn't seen him in years. She then tells her that it's because he doesn't love her. She may be the AlphaBitch of the film, but the look on her face afterwards makes you want to give her a big hug.

** Upon reading Harriet's notebook, her friends form the Spy Catchers Club. Naturally, Harriet spies on them and feels sad because they're having fun without her and because she's the reason they're doing it.
** Rachel Hennessey pours blue ink all over Harriet. [[WhatTheHellHero The teacher thinks it was an accident and scolds Harriet for not accepting Rachel's fake apology.]]

* YourCheatingHeart: Implied where Harriet wrote that she heard at a party Laura Peters's father was "stoned out of his mind" and Millie Andrews (Carrie's mother) "smiled at him like an idiot", seems like more than mind-altering substances were at play between them.

** In the movie, Carrie Andrews goes from FatGirl to a girl that is seen with Rachel and Marion in the beginning.

* FreeRangeChildren: In the movie, the children are only 11, yet they wander aimlessly around town with little to no concern from their parents. The book may have been written in the 60's, but since the movie was clearly set in the 90's, it was a bit jarring to see.

* BreakTheHaughty: Harriet. She's finally forced to humble herself and do something that she had never considered before in order to get her friends back: apologize - and lie.

* FinaglesLaw: Harriet goes to talk to Janie and Sport after she sees a child psychologist. Unfortunately, Janie drops a corrosive chemical by accident and refuses to talk to Harriet when the latter offers to help clean it up. Sport in the meantime is celebrating with his dad about the latter selling a book. Although Harriet is trying to make peace, his dad keeps interrupting and invites her to a celebratory dinner—which Sport immediately says, [[BigNo "NO!"]] to. It's not until the end of the book when the three become friends again.

* FinaglesLaw: Harriet goes to talk to Janie and Sport after she sees a child psychologist. Unfortunately, Janie drops a corrosive chemical by accident and refuses to talk to Harriet when the latter offers to help clean it up. Sport in the meantime is celebrating with his dad about the latter selling a book. Although Harriet is trying to make peace, his dad keeps interrupting and invites her to a celebratory dinner—which Sport immediately says, [[BigNo "NO"]] to. It's not until the end of the book when the three become friends again.

* FinaglesLaw: Harriet goes to talk to Janie and Sport after she sees a child psychologist. Unfortunately, Janie drops a corrosive chemical by accident and refuses to talk to Harriet when the latter offers to help clean it up. Sport in the meantime is celebrating with his dad about the latter selling a book. Although Harriet is trying to make peace, his dad keeps interrupting and invites her to a celebratory dinner. It's not until the end of the book when the three become friends again.

* AndThenWhat: Sport brings this up after Harriet in the newspaper talks about the club, and implies that "certain other people won't want to play a certain game and drink tea". Since Harriet is no longer a problem, there's no reason for the Spy-Catching Club to exist, and there's no reason to be ''playing bridge'' and drinking tea. Rachel and Marion refuse to discuss the issue, saying that people who don't want to join can leave. [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor Everyone promptly does]], except for Laura Peters and Carrie Andrews.

** Rachel Hennessey pours blue ink all over Harriet. [[WhatTheHellHero The teacher thinks it was an accident and scolds ''Harriet'' for not accepting Rachel's fake "apology."]]

* {{Ojou}}: Marion thinks of herself as one, and doesn't take it well when she realizes that many of her classmates ''don't'' see her that way. For example, she is stunned when a (very slim) majority of the class votes for her to lose her post as editor of the sixth grade page of the school newspaper to Harriet and Beth Ellen. Miss Elson even tells Marion afterward, "Don't count your chicks until they vote for you."

* BrattyFoodDemand: Apparently, Harriet's first sentence was "Gimme cookie!". She's not a brat, she was just being rude because she was a toddler.

* AwkwardSilence: Happens in a Spy-Catchers Club meeting when Rachel tells her friends about the note Harriet sent to her mother claiming that no one in the class likes Rachel and they're only there for Mrs. Hennessey's homemade cake. No one speaks up to disprove this claim (not even Marion!) and Pinky Whitehead chimes in with: [[ComicallyMissingThePoint "Well, it's ''very'' good ''cake''."]]

* AwkwardSilence: Happens in a Spy-Catchers Club meeting when Rachel tells her friends about the note Harriet sent to her mother claiming that no one in the class likes Rachel and they're only there for Mrs. Hennessey's homemade cake. No one speaks up to disprove this claim (not even Marion!) and Pinky Whitehead chimes in with: [[ComicallyMissingThePoint "Well, it's very good cake."]]