Harriet the Spy

In the days following Ole Golly’s departure, Harriet finds herself in a grumpy mood with her friends and family. When she returns home from school, the house seems particularly empty: “That was one thing about Ole Golly, thought Harriet; even if she didn’t say anything, you were aware of her. She made herself felt in the house” (136).

The next day at school, Harriet’s class is told that they must prepare a themed dance performance for the Christmas pageant. After much debate, someone suggests that they all dress up as items of food from a Christmas dinner. Over her strenuous objections, Harriet’s teacher assigns her the role of an onion. Janie will be a squash, and Sport will be one quarter of a turkey. All the students go get measured for costumes. While there, the dance instructor tells them that they should invent their own dance steps and practice them at home.

During her spy rounds the next day, Harriet goes to the Robinson house first. She observes a huge crate being carried through the front door. Inside the crate is a giant sculpture: […] an enormous, but enormous—perhaps six feet high—wooden sculpture of a fat, petulant, rather unattractive baby” (157).