TEASER TUESDAYS is hosted by MizB at Should be Reading; I’ve modified this version to allow more than two sentences from anywhere on the page:
- Grab your current read.
- Let the book fall open to a random page.
- Share with us one or two “teaser” sentences” from that page. Please share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
Here are my two teaser sentences:
Although she’s been compared to the most famous female sleuth of children’s literature, Nancy Drew, Harriet, in fact, has long reminded me of another precocious young tomboy of classic literature who goes through a loss of innocence: Scout Finch. Like Scout, she is scrappy, primarily male-identified (Harriet’s father seems to play a more influential role in her life than her mother, who is neither career woman nor homemaker), obsessed with spying on her neighbors (birdcage designer Harrison Withers is Harriet’s Boo Radley), and is among other things, the recipient of a role as a foodstuff in a school holiday pageant (Harriet is an onion to Scout’s ham).
Brilliant, isn’t it?! This is from Lizzie Skurnick’s Shelf Discovery, and is commentary on the childhood classic Harriet the Spy. I’ve never connected the dots from To Kill a Mockingbird to Harriet the Spy, but Skurnick makes a convincing argument, doesn’t she?!
Harriet the Spy is one of the books I’ll be reading/re-reading for BookingMama’s Shelf Discovery Reading Challenge. I’ll give Shelf Discovery itself a full review at some point, likely after I finish the reading challenge (I’m not reading it in a linear fashion, more of browsing and reading as I make my reading list).
Have you read Harriet the Spy? Did you want to be her (come on, admit it!)?!
I really need to get a copy! esp for work!
here’s mine
I never read Harriet the Spy but I certainly wanted to be Nancy Drew! (but was it because of being precocious and solving crimes, or was it because of Ned?)
What a great connection made between those two books. Now I want to read more about Harriet. TKAM is one of my all-time favorites.
I’ve never read Harriet the Spy. When I was a kid I seemed to miss out on a lot of “traditional” books. Jumped from Dr. Seuss, to Sweet Valley High to Stephen King! LOL
I think I probably read Harriet, but I was a Nancy Drew girl. I fancied myself a sleuth when I was young. A friend of mine and I even went so far as to try to write a mystery. I won the Shelf Discovery book from Amy @ Amy Reads Good Books, and I can’t wait to get it. I actually sat on the floor at Barnes & Noble for awhile flipping through it to make my list. I’ve decided that I’m going to try to review all 10 of my Shelf Discovery Challenge books in December. I’m on my third right now. So much fun!
While I’ve done extensive research and reading on Nancy Drew, I’ve never given much thought to Harriet the Spy. That is a very interesting point. Great teaser!
Here’s mine.
Hmmm.. I never even made the connection before! That’s VERY interesting!
I didn’t get the chance to read this entire book but I am so happy to participate in the challenge!
Very interesting. I never read Harriet the Spy but I love To Kill a Mockingbird. I’ll have to check Harriet the Spy and Shelf Discovery out.
I have not read Harriet the spy!
Teaser Tuesdays: The Imposter’s Daughter by Laurie Sandell
That’s great teaser! I loved Harriet the Spy when I was younger, though I have yet to read “To Kill a Mockingbird.” I know, I’m a horrible person. Lol. Thanks for this teaser! I’d never heard of this book before, but I’ll definitely be giving it a second look!
Nice teaser. I have never read any Harriet the Spy books, But I am well aware of who Scout is.
I have never read Harriet The Spy either, but you have piqued my curiosity as I, like so many. love To Kill A Mockingbird! Great teaser!
I am a rare person: I am not a Harriet fan. She annoyed me so much when I read it as a kid.
Here’s mine.
Harriet the Spy is on my list to read. Looking forward to it.
I loved Harriet the Spy. I had (and probably still have) this in harback.
I loved Harriet the Spy and probably read it a dozen times when I was a kid. Never made the connection with To Kill A Mockingbird though.
Isn’t Lizzie the best? I’m reading the book in bits and pieces too.
Hi everybody — thanks for the kudos, but that essay is actually from a brilliant contributor, Jezebel EIC Anna Holmes, who brought Fine Lines into being! I will pass on the plaudits.
I’ve never read any of the Harriet books but this a great teaser!
I’m not sure how I made it through childhood without having read this book!
“Harriett the Spy” was one of my favorite book growing up!! I remember my friend and I going to the mall (after getting a ride there from my mom) and having little notebooks and picking out people and following them and taking notes and spying on them.