Author: Peter Abrahams
Publisher: HarperTeen, 336 pages
Copyright: 2009
Summary:
Plot: Cody is a high school dropout that pursues his ex-girlfriend in order to find out what happened to her after she mysteriously disappears from her boarding school in Vermont.
Major Characters: Cody and Clea
Major Subjects: Mystery, "Whodunit"
School Library Journal Review:
Grade 9 Up—Set in Little Bend, CO, and North Dover, VT, Abrahams's novel follows Cody, 17, who sustains a serious knee injury that leaves him on the bench during the most important recruiting year in his high school career. With no college scholarship in sight, he drops out of school. When his rich girlfriend, Clea, is reported missing from her Vermont boarding school, he drives East to find her and endangers himself in the process. Though not as complicated as Abrahams's adult novels, Reality Check is a solid mystery reminiscent of Carol Plum-Ucci's The Body of Christopher Creed (Harcourt, 2000) or Nancy Werlin's The Killer's Cousin (Delacorte, 1998). That Cody is a country boy and a dropout both complicate and inform his detective persona; the realization that "with the exception of football" he was wasting his time in school sends him "some message about a whole different way for him to look at things, to live." It is this "whole different way" that allows Cody—a fish out of water among wealthy Dover Academy students—to solve the mystery, though not before a red herring is revealed and a surprise villain is unmasked.—Amy S. Pattee, Simmons College, Boston
Review:
This story starts as the tale of a disaffected small-town athlete who decides he has to hit the open road to find himself — and, hopefully, somebody else who matters to him. But, this small-town hero doesn't realize that until later. Seventeen year old Cody doesn't have a lot going for him; he's flunking his classes and his relationship with his dad is non-existent. After stirring up trouble with his girlfriend, Clea, Clea's father decides that he doesn't want a good-for-nothing, high school drop out to continue going out with his daughter. He sends Clea to boarding school in Vermont. Just when nothing could possibly get any worse, Cody tears his ACL and can't play football anymore. His dreams shattered, he breaks up with Clea and drops out of school completely.
Clea suddenly disappears while at her posh Vermont prep school. Cody blunders plausibly into one clue after another until a murky picture emerges about Clea's fate — a fate that could befall him if he doesn't put together the pieces fast enough.
Peter Abrahams is a master storyteller. Although a bit predictable at times, I did find this mystery to be gripping and engaging. Teens won't want to put it down and will be anxious to find out what happens. I think teens will relate to Cody and want to know what happens to him.
Reading Level: Beginner
Notes about Audience: Appropriate for ages 12 and up; a good read for reluctant readers
Other Books by Peter Abrahams:
You might also enjoy:
Peter Abrahams "Echo Falls" series
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Tangerine by Edward Bloor
Looking for Alaska by John Green
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