Reality Check by Peter Abrahams

This is one of Florida's Teen Reads. It is one of the few "suspense" novels I've read that has been written directly for teens, so it was enjoyable to read on that account. (Shift was the last good teen suspense book I've read.) Again, I must complain about authors insisting that their teen characters speak foul language and have casual sex. In this case, neither adds to the character development of the protagonist, Cody, or his girlfriend, Clea. The plot was a bit romantic in the sense that a poor 16 year old boy quits high school to drive his broken down car across the country to search for his girlfriend who has gone missing from her boarding school. There are so many things wrong with that scenario, but for the sake of the plot, Cody doesn't have to contend with paying for gas, food, or lodging. Everything turns out to be the right decision, even him quitting high school in 11th grade (I could offer opinion about how absurdly wrong and out of touch authors are when their characters quit high school and still manage to have a lovely life. Odds are heavily against it, and we are kidding our teenagers when we present characters who are always right when they quit high school.)
The book is an easy read, no challenging vocabulary or difficult plot lines. Boys will like that the central character is a football hero and girls will like the love story.