Tween Carter is stuck at home with two broken legs. He fills his new free time watching public video feeds from the town’s cameras. But then he starts seeing strange things that no one else is noticing. Will the authorities believe some random kid when he tells them that people are breaking the law? For that matter, should he even tell them?
Carter’s parents have gone to great lengths to get him to cut back on his screen use: They’ve volunteered him for nature hikes, had him join the local pool, taken him on weekend fishing trips, signed him up for sports teams. But frankly, as far as Carter is concerned, none of those things measure up to that sweet little screen nestled in his palm … or its never-ending stream of sweet little videos.
In fact, while on a ski trip with his dad and younger brother, Carter’s distracting screen obsession even leads to a terrible accident—one that leaves him with two broken legs.
Talk about the pain of too much screen time.
Back home, Carter’s mom is none too pleased. Not only is she distraught over her son’s injury, but because she and Carter’s father are divorced, she’ll have to navigate her son’s new limitations all on her own. Carter is stuck in two matching casts, clunking around in a bulky, hard-to-maneuver wheelchair. He’s barely able to get in or out of bed without help—and even then, only with the help of a full-blown crane.
The only consolation to all these changes is that for the next several months, Carter will be able to sleep in before school. In fact, he can wake up and go straight to Zoom classes on his laptop if he wants. Oh, and there’s one other nice benefit: Carter’s secret crush, Lacey, has been appointed to deliver homework assignments to his doorstep.
Of course, with all his extra, laid-up time, Carter turns to the very thing his parents wanted to steer him away from: screens. But Carter has recently discovered that he can access public and private video surveillance cameras around town. (Hey, you can learn how to do almost anything on YouTube these days.) And he’s become entranced by this new feed.
At first, he uses the surveillance cameras to, uh, observe Lacey and this obnoxious guy named Maddox who’s trying to monopolize her time. Carter seethes as Lacey and Maddox pull stupid pranks around town with a group called the “Chairmen of the Bored.”
However, as Carter scrolls through his assortment of hacked camera feeds—even during online school classes—he starts noticing small details that most other people wouldn’t. There’s a mysterious red Maserati parked in the same place every day, for instance, its driver just sitting there, watching. There are also Zipy Delivery Vans popping up in the oddest places.
Oh, and here’s the strangest thing of all: Carter starts seeing impossible things. He spots red pandas, bonobos and swift foxes crouching and crawling covertly through alleyways and darkened areas of town. They’re all endangered species native to exotic corners of the world. They should not be in Sterling, North Carolina.
Then again, if Carter were to call the authorities about the odd things he’s seeing, he’d have to explain how he’s seeing them. How can a kid in a wheelchair be watching people and goings-on all over town?
Carter would have to admit … that he’s a snoop.
None.
None.
Carter’s mom and dad both love their boys. And they’re on the same page when it comes to their desire to get Carter to cut back on screen time and invest his days in healthier and more creative pursuits. But Mom and Dad’s divorce—and the fact that they live in different states now—makes their parenting efforts less effective.
In fact, since Carter and his brother, Martin, live with their mom—and she’s often gone for work—Carter tends to regularly bend and/or break his parents’ rules. At first, he stretches the amount of time he’s allowed online. Then begins looking at public camera feeds, sometimes into the early morning hours. Then he starts hacking into private camera feeds around town. And finally, he begins piloting his mother’s drone (that she uses for her photography business) without permission.
These activities ultimately result in Carter actually helping some people. But initially, they cause something of a trainwreck in the preteen’s life. He doesn’t sleep, he loses friends, and he gets in trouble with his mom and the police.
Eventually Carter has to admit to himself and others that his obsessions have become destructive. “There’s a point where snooping turns into spying—where a hobby becomes an obsession—and that’s not good,” the tween notes. The book also makes it clear that too much screen time can be a detrimental choice for anyone.
Carter calls the police when he sees what he thinks is criminal activity. But they don’t react well, believing his calls to be pranks. Carter watches two different business owners doing meanspirited things to harm one another’s businesses.
Carter respects Mr. Grimes, a teacher who makes some thoughtful choices to help Carter and others.
Carter’s legs both get broken because he isn’t paying attention to his surroundings, so a speeding, hurtling mass hits him just below the knees.
Through camera feeds, Carter spots a very pregnant mom and her obnoxious child in the park. The boy hits other children with their own toys, and he runs his mother ragged. On one occasion, when the two are alone, the mom goes into labor, and her son throws her phone into a fountain before she can call for help.
When Carter sees (through the cameras) a snow leopard threatening a group of school kids, he has no choice but to try and maneuver his wheelchair down the street in an effort to help them.
Carter accidentally smashes a pitcher at a pool party with his mother’s drone. And he crashes the craft through the windshield of a car. Two angry deli owners attack each other with food utensils. Someone shoots a dangerous animal with a tranquilizer dart.
Carter states that he’s had “an insane crush” on Lacey since kindergarten. And he becomes angry and jealous when he sees her spending time and holding hands with Maddox. Carter spies on a big party at Maddox’s house where kids in swimsuits jump into the pool and jacuzzi.
Carter spots a married man out at dinner with another woman.
We live in a very screen-focused world. Do you ever think you might be spending too much time on screens? How much is a good amount of time? Do you take time to meet up with friends in person and do non-screen activities?
What did you think about the pranks played by the Chairmen of the Bored? Did you see any problems with those pranks? What do you think is the most creative way to make a public statement?
If you saw something happening that you thought might be illegal, what would you do first? Is there someone you’d ask for advice? Can you talk to your parents about things that bother you? Do you think that’s important?
Gordon Korman’s Snoop tends to stretch credulity a bit. And the book’s tween protagonist, Carter, bends or outright breaks his mom’s rules throughout this sometimes-perilous story.
That said, in the end, Carter admits his wrongdoings and faces the consequences for them. And even before that, he works hard to help innocent people who find themselves in harm’s way—even putting his own life on the line to do so.
This story homage to Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window is a fun read that raises good questions about screen addiction and friendship.
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Book reviews cover the content, themes and worldviews of fiction books, not necessarily their literary merit, and equip parents to decide whether a book is appropriate for their children. The inclusion of a book’s review does not constitute an endorsement by Focus on the Family.
After spending more than two decades touring, directing, writing and producing for Christian theater and radio (most recently for Adventures in Odyssey, which he still contributes to), Bob joined the Plugged In staff to help us focus more heavily on video games. He is also one of our primary movie reviewers.
