Snoops, Inc. # 2 - Science Fair Sabotage

It's been more than a few months since I read the first book in this series, but I do remember finding the first book to be rather cute.  Thus, when I picked up this second in the series, I was expecting to find the same level of enjoyment, and I did.  This is a fun little series about four middle school children who have formed a mystery-solving squad they call "Snoops, Inc."  While the books are relatively short, with tons of internal illustrations, the stories are actually well-plotted, and readers have the opportunity to pick up on clues right along with the Snoops to try and solve the case before they do.  I know as a young reader, I would have thoroughly enjoyed these books.

Science Fair Sabotage is set at a school science fair (obviously), when twin sixth-graders Hayden and Jaden Williams have projects they are hoping will win.  Jaden has the cliched volcano, set with a timer that will cause the "lava" to erupt; while Hayden has developed an app that she hopes will be able to scan fingerprints just like the computers police use.  Their friends, and fellow snoopers, seventh-grader Keisha Turner and eighth-grader Carlos Diaz, are there to support them.  But after they and their fellow classmates set up their projects the night before, they come in the next day to discover their projects have been sabotaged!  Jaden's volcano erupts well before the start of the science fair; the microchip that stores the app on Hayden's computer is missing; a girl's backpack that has the blueprints for her project has gone missing; and a boy's robot has had the hard drive removed from its back.  Four projects damaged, while the project of another young boy named Tariq - who has no problem boasting about how his project will win the fair - was left alone.  Needless to say, all signs point to Tariq ... or do they?

Jaden, Hayden, Keisha, and Carlos are on the case, looking for clues, determined to get to the bottom of the science fair sabotage.  A miscolored footprint near Jaden's volcano; the girl's blueprints found under a table, but without her backpack; some small rubber bands near the boy's damaged robot; and a mysterious hooded figure running out of the school carrying a suspiciously familiar-looking backpack lead the four kids on a chase to catch the saboteur.  With only 104 pages and larger than typical font, the story moves very fast, and it isn't long before the culprit is revealed and the reason for his (or her!) actions are brought to light.

 

One element about the story that I thought was well done was Jaden's insecurity about not only his science project, but about his place on the team.  Hayden is the computer genius, Carlos is the face of the team, and Keisha is the brawn - so where does that leave him?  He has doubts throughout the story, but by the end, he does come to the realization that he does have a very important place on the team, and his contribution is just as important as the others.  A nice moral for young readers to remember that they do not have to have the same skills and qualities as others to still be important!

As I was reading the story, it dawned on me how similar this series is to the Zebra Mystery Puzzlers that I read as a kid (and am now re-reading as an adult).  The cover illustration, as well as the interior ones, have clues to the identity of the saboteur, and the clues in the story itself are pretty straightforward.  While the Zebra Mystery Puzzlers are not as easily discernible (after all, that series is written for adults, not middle-schoolers), the clues are there if you know how to spot them.  And I have no doubt that middle-school children who love to read will enjoy trying to spot them in the story and illustrations.

This is most certainly a series I would recommend for those with young readers (and even for adults if you have an hour to kill and want a quick, easy read!).

RATING:  8 Burger BOOM! Double Bacon Cheeseburgers out of 10 for keeping it short and sweet, but thoroughly enjoyable.