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adering
Jan 14, 2017adering rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Not just one of the finest children's books, also one of those children's books that adults get something out of too. Harriet is acerbic, a little neurotic, sharp as a tack, naive. The book has a slight bittersweet edge to it. Partly from the narrative, but partly from the realization that Harriet's New York is almost (if not completely) gone, forced out by gentrification gone wild. Hers was a more nuanced, more delightful New York, a New York to be a child in. A New York of family grocery stores, without a Starbucks or cupcake boutique to be seen. Put it on the shelf next to "Stuart Little" and "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn." Every generation and socioeconomic group has "its" New York. Harriet owns her piece of the city, all the way up to the sky.