Four teenagers, and one dog, suffer at the hands of online media and
come up with a plan to show people they should never trust what they
read on the internet.
They launch their own news site detailing amazing,
shocking, utterly believable but totally untrue stories. They always
intend to come clean, but success goes to their heads and before long
they are enmeshed in a world of spies and aliens.
How will they get out
of this unscathed? What happens next will change all of their lives
forever.
Leon - A child genius who wants to be a secret agent.
Rory - A victim of bullying at school due to his LGBT character traits who was terrified of people learning his secret thoughts due to his missing diary.
Jonas - He was a carer for his disabled mother and was struggling to cope with the responsibility.
Four teenagers with relatable issues who join forces and start their own fake news website ostensibly to try and get people to understand that you can't believe everything that you read on social media. But things get out of control when Leon decides to fake a visitation from aliens and after spies get added to the equation, the kids find themselves in big trouble. Will they be able to sort out the mess they have created and come out unscathed?
The book is written in the form of a journal with each chapter beginning and ended with fake news articles,some funny, some over-sensationalising events that were happening at the teenagers school. The chapters were divided into sections with each section being headed by the names of the characters who appeared in that part of the story. The teenager's lives were a realistic mix of family drama's, bullying and the trials and tribulations of life at school. As well as being a hilarious tale about just how gullible many people can be, the story also covers some serious issues. So many people are judged because of the way that they do or don't look, my daughter has a unseen disability and has good and bad days just like Lucas's mum did in this story. People can be so ignorant and judgemental of people who don't look like they are suffering from a disability and don't stop and think how hurtful their comments and insinuations can be. I liked feisty Miki and loyal Lucas, I wasn't a big fan of Leon for the vast majority of the book, my absolute favourite character was Rory, I loved how the author wrote about his sexuality and struggles to be accepted with care and sensitivity. I loved how accepting his friends and family were of his LBGT character traits and his wonderful,wacky fashion sense.
This is a very well written, fast paced y/a story that has a cast of vivid, realistic characters. To be honest, it took me a while to finish this book, the reason having more to do with my concentration levels than the book itself. I did think it was a enjoyable, entertaining read and I would happily read more of this author's books in the future.
Author Bio
Author of over 30 books, C J Dunford is best known for her crime and
spy stories set around the world wars (The Euphemia Martins Mysteries
and The Hope Stapleford Adventures).
She has been, in no particula order, a hypnotist, a drama teacher, a journalist, a psychotherapist, a voice
actor, a playwright and a novelist.
She is currently a part-time Teaching Fellow at the University of Edinburgh where she teaches creative writing, freelance journalism and statistics. Never one to follow the usual route she holds degrees in both arts and social science, as well as a smattering of professional qualifications. She is good with a blow torch, but better behind a steering wheel (her youngest son believes she used to be a racing driver).
It was, in fact, a desperate attempt to get her two sons to read,
and because she thinks all the best stories are YA, that she wrote Fake
News. After all, with spies, cyber threats, disinformation and aliens, why
wouldn’t you want read it?
PUBLICATION DATE: 31st May 2021
PURCHASE LINK....
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