A Snitch in the Snob Squad

April 1, 2001
In this third book in the series, A Snitch in the Snob Squad by Julie Anne Peters, several thefts at school have 12-year-old Jenny and the other members of the Snob Squad scrambling to discover who's behind them. Their friend Max is a prime suspect, but they believe that the principal's daughter may be the culprit.

April 1, 2001
Gr 4-7-The sixth-grade Snob Squad girls continue their friendship in this third book in the series. This story has more serious overtones than the earlier ones as Jenny describes how she and her three friends not only try to foil their archenemy Ashley, the principal's daughter, but also try to discover who has been stealing from their teachers. When Ashley deliberately ruins Lydia's history project, the girls attempt to get even. They blame the thefts on Ashley-after all, she has a big purse that she will not let anyone touch. However, the evidence points to others as well. All four Snob Squadders had a chance to take the money, as did two of their boyfriends. As each girl becomes suspect, their loyalty begins to disintegrate, and they turn on one another. No background is given about the main characters as individuals, their problems, or their home lives; it is assumed that readers have read the earlier books. Most of the characters are unlikable, including the four Snob Squad members, the unfair principal, the ineffectual teacher, and Jenny's squabbling parents. One must wonder why anyone would want to spend much time with these people.-Janet Hilbun, formerly at Sam Houston Middle School, Garland, TX

Copyright 2001 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2001
Gr. 4-6. Someone stole money from the teacher's desk. Was it Jenny's boyfriend? Was it Jenny's enemy, the principal's daughter? Or was it one of Jenny's best friends in the middle-school Snob Squad? The latest book about Jenny and her three misfit girlfriends is meaner and sadder than " Revenge of the Snob "Squad (1998) and" Romance of the Snob Squad" (1999). Here the Snob Squad girls are not only unpopular but also sometimes unlovable--and that's what gives the story depth. Readers will enjoy the entertaining mystery about the theft and the cover-up and appreciate the honesty as Jenny wrestles with issues of friendship, guilt, and loyalty. People let her down. Her friends think " she" has betrayed them. Has she? Even at home, she discovers that her father has read her diary; he's sorry, but it's hard for her to get over it. And always there's her body image, feeling fat and trying to lose weight. There's nothing comfortable about this story, except perhaps the power of forgiveness.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2001, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2001
This sequel to "Romance of the Snob Squad" finds sixth-grader Jenny and her three best friends, a.k.a. the "Snob Squad," trying to figure out who has been stealing money from a teacher. As suspicion falls on each girl in turn, their friendships begin to splinter. The characters seem drawn with too-broad brush strokes, but Peters writes of the vagaries of adolescent relationships with sympathy and humor.

(Copyright 2001 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)