Sixteen year-old Cody Laredo feels on top of the world. Sophomore year ends with passing grades and the knowledge that he’ll be varsity quarterback next school year. Summer promises a landscaping job and more time with his girlfriend, Clea Weston. Then, Clea’s father sends her back east to keep her away from Cody. In the fall, she unwillingly enrolls in a Vermont private school. Life gets worse when Cody suffers a serious knee injury that sidelines him for the season and destroys his chance at a college sport scholarship. His grades plummet, and he drops out of school. One day, while hobbling around town, Cody sees the newspaper headline- Local Girl Missing. Clea has disappeared from her Vermont boarding school. A clue in the letter she sent to Cody the day she went missing prompts Cody to leave Colorado and drive to Vermont. Once there, Cody gets a job at the academy’s stables. He keeps searching for Clea long after the official search is called off. As the clues mount, he discovers the real Cody. He realizes that he’s a person who can stay the course against tremendous odds.
©2024 Kathy Maxwell at https://bookskidslike.com ( )

Narrated by James Colby. ( )

Reality Check is a fast paced mystery. Cody and Clea are in a relationship when Clea's father tells her that she is going to a boarding school on the East Coast. Cody feels there is no choice but to break up with her so she is free to go. As their lives apart start all is ok until Cody is injured in a football game, tearing his ACL. He quickly loses interest in school and decides to drop out of high school. He gets a job and does his best to stay out of the crosshairs of his alcoholic father. Suddenly his world is turned upside down by a story in the local newspaper. The headline reads, "Local Girl Missing". As he reads he learns that Clea has disappeared from her boarding school. Cody packs up and leaves to try to find her. Many twists and turns ensue in this gripping mystery. ( )

Cody’s life in the sleepy town of Little Bend Colorado revolved around two things: football and his beautiful girlfriend Clea. Clea is rich, and he’s not, but they love each other. When her father catches them together he flips out, sending Clea off to boarding school in Vermont. Read the rest of the review on my blog: http://shouldireaditornot.wordpress.com/2013/11/22/reality-check-peter-abrahams/ ( )

Boring and clumsy. Not a good combo. ( )