Sci-fi fantasy book

Looking for a book I read when I was around 10-12 (almost 18 now). I can’t really recall the plot but it was by a fairly famous male author. The cover was white with a red star on the cover I think. I’ve tried googling this cover with different variations and not found it so I might be wrong.It was about a boy and it was supernatural or sci-fi I think. He typed up and searched for some kind of gate or area online which had no results but alerted the government onto him or something. They were trying to keep it all hushed up.I think it was fairly thick maybe 4cm thick. Might have looked bigger to me than it was because I was so young. It was a paperback. It is a series and I think it is fairly famous. It’s either about gates or stars. Age range was probably for teens and YA. Fiction, sci-fi or supernatural.I’m sorry I can’t remember more. I would love to find it and read it again because I remember enjoying it but because I was young I couldn’t get the rest of the series.I’ll try to recall anything else I can but it’s been so long :(