The Fraught Lives of Nathan Kwan and Lapsang Souchong

When you're always second best, how far would you go to be Number One? Will you sacrifice friendship for popularity? Will you risk everything to save a cat? A multi-stranded story, where the tight friendship between cousins Nathan and Junie Kwan, and their friend Sachin Sundara is the main thread. Students in the fiercely competitive Noble Hall School, they are dismissed as bookish nerds by the popular students who rule at school, and subjected to micro-aggressions. Their friendship kept them afloat... until the bright new girl at school, Aida Anargul, a Diplomat's daughter, befriended them. Fashionista Aida brought a touch of glamour into their lives, and seemed to make the impossible seem, possible. But their excitement is short-lived as Nathan's world came crashing down when his precious Siamese cat disappeared one night. The friends embarked on a frantic search for Lapsang Souchong and discovered that their little neighbourhood is hiding a dark secret. The narrative merges the charm of old-school mystery, adventure and folklore, with complex New Age characters, including (sometimes) unlikeable protagonists who are annoying know-it-alls and formidable antagonists with (sometimes) admirable qualities.