00006996

This book is about a group of young students who watch a friend get "I hate you" notes sent to her. They watch as the girl receives these notes, and eventually decides to send a note back once she uncovers her hateful sender. ( )

This is a realistic fiction book that takes place in a third grade classroom. Many children, when reading this book, will be able to relate to it. Almost every child goes to school and can think of one person they might not like. This story teaches children to be kind to one another. Words can really hurt someone. Song Lee is receiving "I hate you" notes from someone in the classroom. Harry and Doug play investigators and figure out that Mary is sending these notes to Song Lee. This book reflects on the idea that what goes around, comes around. ( )

I loved reading the “Horrible Harry” series growing up, and I really enjoyed reading this particular book again. The first reason I liked this book is because it has meaningful yet simple illustrations mixed in with the text. These illustrations are small and black and white, and do a good job at breaking up the text so it is not overwhelming to new readers that are transitioning to chapter books. For example, the last page of the book has a small illustration of Song Lee and Mary holding hands, showing that they have become friends again. The second reason I liked this book is because of the plot. Song Lee, a third grade student, receives mean notes from a mysterious person in the classroom. Harry and Doug work on solving the puzzle and come to the conclusion that it is Mary, a girl who hates being wrong and who Song Lee has inadvertently outdone in class recently. Song Lee and Mary resolve their conflict with the help of their teacher and in the end, they become friends again. The plot is very relatable to everyday issues that the reader could be going through and teaches them how to solve a problem with a friend. I also like that the plot didn’t just surround Song Lee and Mary’s issues; it also highlighted Harry and Doug’s relationship and different school activities like gym class and story time. The big idea of this story is that being mean to others could result in others being mean back to you, but friendship is the most important thing. ( )

Song Lee starts getting nasty notes from someone in her class room. She comes up with a plan to teach the note sender a lesson.