What Happens Online: The new teen comedy from an award-winning author

(Paperback)

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Description

Existor is the most popular guy in school. Fred is the loser with no friends. And nobody knows they're the same person.

Online, Fred goes by Existor@stmarks. His alter ego is the best gamer around - constantly on a winning streak, with tonnes of followers, and the confidence to go with it. But offline, Fred's life is miserable. His dad's always working, his mum's struggling, and at school, everyone looks straight through him. Until Existor's notoriety spreads to his school, and Fred sees an opportunity: everyone listens to what Existor has to say, so why not use that
Soon, Fred is coming up with outlandish rumours about his classmates, and everyone's lapping it up. His bullies are shunned, and people are finally taking notice of him. But it's a slippery slope and Fred struggles to keep track of all the stuff he's posted as his lies start to wreak unexpected havoc. Fred will have to answer for his crimes against reality, but will he ever find someone to like him for who he really is

Reviews

A witty and heartfelt portrayal of today's teenagers and the struggles they face. -- Charlotte Eyre * The Bookseller *

Author Bio

Nathanael Lessore was born in Camberwell, South East London, as one of eight children to French and Madagascan parents. Although he has spent most of his life in Peckham, Nathanael has also lived in Paris, Strasbourg and Singapore. His debut book Steady For This was shortlisted for the Yoto Carnegie Medal for Writing 2024 and won the Branford Boase Award 2024. His second book King of Nothing was shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize 2025 and longlisted for the Yoto Carnegie Medal for Writing 2025. He is also the author of What Happens Online, and writes stories that show his South East London childhood as the funny, warm, adventurous world that wasn't always represented as such.