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Louise Fitzhugh's beloved 1960s title "Harriet the Spy" captivated young readers for generations as they followed the confident and abruptly honest 11-year-old main character on her spying adventures in New York City. Looking back on it more than 50 years later, the podcast hosts wonder - was Harriet a good role model? Or even a good person? Plus, we'll talk to an expert from the International Spy Museum to find out which spies Harriet should have been looking up to as role models and assess her spying technique.

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System Podcast Network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/. 
 
We mentioned a lot of topics and articles in this first episode. Here’s a brief list of some of them if you want to do your own further research: 

• Debbie Reese’s post on her American Indians in Children’s Literature Blog: https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2020/12/not-recommended-harriet-spy-by-louise.html
• More about Harriet the Spy and its queer representation: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/oct/06/harriet-the-spy-helped-me-come-to-terms-with-my-queer-identity
• Excerpt of the book “Sometimes You Have to Lie” by Leslie Brody:
  https://lithub.com/the-hidden-literary-heritage-of-harriet-the-spy/
• Wikipedia article about egg creams:
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egg_cream
• And for some fun, figure out exactly which cheese YOU are with this Buzzfeed quiz: https://www.buzzfeed.com/kylieb4f1899a33/what-type-of-cheese-are-you-cviclxegzk
• More information about the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C.: https://www.spymuseum.org/