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

The third and equally brilliant new book from Nathanael Lessore - What Happens Online - follows our main character Fred through his journey in Year 9 at home and at school.

14-year-old Fred is having a really hard time at school. He has been relentlessly bullied since Year 7 by a group of the most popular students he calls The Unthinkables who Fred named as "it's unthinkable that I could ever be anything like them". Through Lessore's brilliant prose we really empathise with Fred. He is a loner who has no friends; he is 'socially invisible', to the point that he is privy to the inner-most secrets of his peers. No one sees or notices Fred, so students speak freely in front of him.

At home, meanwhile, his family dynamics are changing. His mum is having a really tough time after loosing her mother, his dad has to go away for work and his youngest brother is being bullied, too. Fred's whole world is crumbling.

However, Fred has a huge online following. Online, Fred is one of the best gamers around and is one of life's winners; he is popular, funny and confident. His fellow students love and admire his online alter ego Existor, so Fred uses it to start spreading rumours. He now has the power to make and break students in his school. Not only does he create rumours to get his bullies cancelled, he also has the power to create a new life for himself, one where he is not ignored and is slowly becoming respected by his peers. However, he struggles to keep up with the lies.

I absolutely loved What Happens Online, it is hilarious in parts, but Lessore also creates great pathos in his work. His observations of school, of family dynamics and of friendship is so true to life, and like life, there is comedy and tragedy within that. We totally sympathise wholeheartedly with Fred and his family.

Lessore has a real skill in bringing all these elements together to create a fantastic, believable and relatable novel for young people. His writing feels fresh and current. The novel is funny, but it also speaks of society and how hard it is for young people to negotiate growing up in an online world. As in his previous novels, Lessore’s main protagonist has flaws and he makes mistakes, just like we all do in real-life. Fred is a likeable character, he puts himself in funny situations, he is kind and caring, but he just wants a break, he just wants to be liked and to be one of the 'popular kids'.

Lessore is becoming so masterful at creating novels that not only have humour and heart but also have the ability to create discussions about the things that affect our young people today. This novel so cleverly weaves in hard-hitting topics such as bullying, self-esteem, loss and the relentless online culture that young people face. He broaches these topics in a light-hearted way, but this book really does have the capacity to shine a light and open up discussions about these serious topics.

Also, as a school librarian, I'd like to say a big thank you to Nathaneal for shining a light on the work that we do on a daily basis. I loved the book and would recommend for readers aged 11+, especially for fans of his previous books. Or if you haven't read one of his novels give this one a go, it is a great read and I did find myself laughing out loud too, absolutely brilliant!

3202 pages / Reviewed by Julie Broadbent, school librarian

Suggested Reading Age 11+