What Happens Online – at a glance
The School Reading Lists’ five word review: high school, friendship, bullying, gaming, family.
YA book title: What Happens Online.
YA author: Nathanael Lessore.
Genre: fiction.
Published by: Hot Key Books.
ISBN: 9781471418204
Recommended for children aged: 11+ year-olds.
First published: Paperback April 2025.
This children’s book is ideal for: Online immersed teens.
To see the latest price or order, click on the book cover image. As an Amazon Associate schoolreadinglist.co.uk earns from qualifying purchases.
Our review:
Self-declared nobody Fred navigates the troubles familiar to any teenager: making friends, first crushes, family drama, and curating an entertaining online persona. In an effort to ‘level up’, Fred loses sight of the important things in life and ties himself up in knots of lies. On the other hand, Existor has hundreds of adoring fans and followers. These two couldn’t be more different… or strangely similar…
Fred’s life is tragic: no friends, no popularity, and with his mum in mourning and his dad working away, even his own brothers are no comfort. The only solace Fred has is his online persona: Existor@stmarks. Online, he is confident and witty; Fred wishes he could make this virtual life his reality. So it begins – the lying and scheming to bring others down in order to elevate himself. However, once he achieves popularity (at the expense of his first friend/crush, his brothers, and his family), Fred begins to realise maybe it wasn’t all as great as it seemed.
Ultimately, Fred mends his friendship with Tara, reconnects with his brothers Ezra and Taien, and finds a group of friends who like him for being himself.
What Happens Online is a heart-warming read that combines high school drama with video game chats. It offers a realistic portrayal of the stresses of being a teenager, includes gamer lingo, and features a fight-back against bullies. What Happens Online would appeal to fans of Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Netflix’s Young Sheldon.
Many thanks to Hot Key Books for the review copy.
To order a class set of this book, please click below to order via uk.bookshop.org, an organisation that supports local bookshops, or Amazon.co.uk.
Buy from UK.Bookshop.Org Buy from Amazon.co.uk
Disclosure: If you buy books using the buttons above: we may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops; as an Amazon Associate schoolreadinglist.co.uk earns from qualifying purchases.
Browse our Year 7 book list.
