Review By: Rose Palmisano
Published: 2025
Genre(s): Mystery, Realistic Fiction, Middle Grade, Humor, Family, Friendship
Audience: Grades 5–7
Content Warnings: None
Goodreads Link: Snoop
Summary:
From Gordon Korman, the bestselling author of Restart, the story of a boy who’s stuck at home with two broken legs… and who starts using cameras and a drone to spy on his classmates, neighbors, and a possible criminal who’s come to town.
If Carter hadn’t been checking his phone, he might have seen his brother coming down the ski slopes in his direction. And if Carter had seen his brother in time and avoided the crash, he might not have two broken legs right now.
Oops.
Now Carter is stuck at home for weeks, with both his legs in casts. Bored, he starts checking out the live feeds from police cams around his town. Before he knows it, he’s obsessed — watching his classmates when they don’t know he’s looking, and discovering some other VERY STRANGE things going on that no one else is noticing.
But what happens when Carter is found out… and the people he’s watching know where he lives?
Review:
Carter’s little brother Martin crashes into him on a ski hill, leaving Carter with two broken legs and a whole lot of time on his hands. Stuck at home and bored, he discovers the live camera feeds on his town’s police website. What starts as harmless curiosity soon turns into an obsession with watching others—especially when he spots suspicious activity and feels compelled to play detective. But snooping has consequences, and Carter’s curiosity may lead to more trouble than he bargained for. Snoop is another fun, fast-paced story from Gordon Korman filled with humor, heart, and relatable middle school chaos. Carter’s misadventures as an accidental detective mix laugh-out-loud moments with deeper messages about privacy, technology, and what happens when curiosity crosses a line.
Readers will see themselves in Carter’s frustration and desire to belong. Korman skillfully balances silly humor with timely themes like tech obsession and jumping to conclusions. The result is a story that keeps readers thinking long after the last page, especially about what it means to really see people rather than just watch them.
Perfect for classroom discussions or independent reading, Snoop offers both entertainment and thoughtful conversation starters.
