Author, Matt Goodfellow

 Illustrator and Cover designer, Joe Todd-Stanton

The Final Year is a powerful and lyrical verse novel charting the story of ten-year-old Nate Wilder’s last year of Primary School. Written by former teacher and acclaimed poet Matt Goodfellow, the book is a realistic and emotionally charged novel which engages readers in a series of poems in Nate’s own voice, taking them to the heart of the story and encouraging them to empathise with characters and their situations. The story centres on the experiences of a working-class family in the North of England. It’s an important and powerful story to tell because it’s a celebration of a way of life which has too often in the media been stereotyped and maligned. Inspired by Matt’s own experiences as a teacher, the book highlights the trials and tribulations that come in the last year of primary and preparing for the transition to High School, addressing situations and issues that his readers will all be facing and can relate directly to. Nate and his two younger brothers have a complicated background and as he transitions into his final year, he has to deal with shifting friendships, powerful emotions, absent fathers, the pressure of SATs – and a medical emergency which threatens to shatter everything he has ever known. Amongst all this, Nate also has to deal with day-to-day family life in a low-income household, helping his single mum to care for his two younger brothers. When his younger brother is taken ill and hospitalised, we join Nate on the whirlwind of emotions that threaten to overcome him. The author and editor of the book worked alongside a paediatric cardiologist to ensure authenticity in this part of the story. Overall, the book is an engaging and hopeful narrative about finding your place in the world and the people that matter within it.