Gym Candy by Carl Deuker

This book is a must read for football players and fans alike. The author spends a brief period of time setting up the background to the story, and then delves right into the world of high school football. In classic Carl Deuker style, the story is a great balance of on the field action and real life drama.

The majority of the story is set during Mick Johnson's high school career. The son of a a fallen NFL star, Mick carries the burden of living the dream for both of them. Through hard work and natural ability, Mick earns a coveted spot on the varsity team. Unfortunately, he falls short with some of his goals. His overbearing father convinces him to abandon team training to work one on one with a personal trainer, who leads him down a path that begins with legal supplements and ends with anabolic steroids (hence the title of the book). As these drugs create an initial increase in Mick's performance on the field, we see things begin slipping away elsewhere, as the side effects of steroids isolate him from family and friends.

The book ends with a surprising twist, and I applaud the author for not taking the easy, obvious way out. This is a popular title among my sports loving guy students, but as a football fan, I loved it, too! If you like this book, be sure to check out all of Carl Deuker's other titles---they are all outstanding!

Reality Check by Peter Abrahams

We meet our protagonist, Cody Laredo, as he is finishing his sophomore year of high school. He has every reason to be thrilled: he's dating a beautiful girl, and he (barely) passed all of his classes, making him eligible to return to his spot as the school's varsity quarterback. Football is truly the only reason he even goes to school, and he sees it as his ticket out of town and onto bigger and better things.

Life slowly starts to unravel when the rich father of his girlfriend Clea determines her only chance of making it into an Ivy League school is to get out of their small town. He abruptly enrolls her in a prestigious boarding school in Vermont, and suddenly she seems to be out of Cody's life. As the new school year begins, he puts all of his focus into football. Things are going well until Cody sustains a season ending injury. He slips into a depression and begins skipping school. His single father barely notices and doesn't object when Cody eventually drops out to get a job.

The real story begins when Cody spots a headline in a local newspaper: Clea is missing. An accomplished equestrian, she took her horse onto the snowy trails, but only the horse returned. Although they broke up when she moved, Cody still has strong feelings for Clea and drives cross-country to help with the search. Cody's only clue is a letter he received from Clea, mailed the day she went missing. He knows that the letter contains clue to where she is and what happened.

Cody soon learns that football isn't the only thing he's good at; as he enters a new world of secrets, money, and lies, he becomes quite the investigator. This is a novel where nothing is as it seems. I found myself constantly questioning the motives of everyone involved, and it is not until the final pages when we find out who is good, who is bad, and whether or not Clea is alive.

Peter Abrahams is a well-known author of both YA and adult books. This is the first book of his I've read. It's a classic mystery and a very quick read full of lots of twists and turns. I highly recommend this book to both male and female young adult readers, especially those who love a fast plot. Although the main character is male, the general premise reminded me of Alane Ferguson's Christopher Killer series. I have a lot of former students waiting on the next book in that one (due out October 15!), so check this out in the meantime. Although Abrahams doesn't leave loose ends, he could definitely create a series around Cody.