Harriet the Spy
Why this book?
The middle-grade classic Harriet the Spy was my favorite book as a kid. I read it so many times that my copy pretty much fell apart, and lots of tape had to be deployed to hold it together. Harriet is an aspiring writer with a great imagination, a daily neighborhood spy route, and a notebook in which she records her observations. She has two good friends: Janie, a cranky scientist; and Sport, a matter-of-fact athlete. The three seem to have nothing in common, but in spite of that, their triangular friendship is well balanced…until it falls apart, and Harriet has to put it back together by – gulp – apologizing.