The Final Year
Matt Goodfellow, illustrated by Joe Todd-Stanton
The book that every teacher is talking about and I loved it too! This emotionally charged verse novel about life in Year 6 should be read at the start of the year and then again at the end. Pupils and teachers alike will identify with the feelings and events that are chronicled, and love the book all the more for it.
Nate is 10. He lives with his mum and two younger brothers who he spends a lot of time caring for. At school he is a bit of an outsider, especially once his best friend forms other allegiances. But Nate loves words and with his new teacher Mr |Joshua, on his side, he navigates his way through the hard times of Y6 changes, friendships and SATS as well as the truly awful things that happen to Nate’s youngest brother.*
This is a book that needed to be written. It is a great introduction to the verse novel format and should be in every Y6 classroom. If you have read Skellig (David Almond) as well, that will help!!
*Trigger warning – serious illness of a sibling
Published by Otter-Barry Books
