The shape of it
The shape of this universe.
Matt Goodfellow's acclaimed verse-novel sequence about Nate, a working-class boy holding his world together as it tilts. Told entirely in vivid, plain-spoken free verse and threaded with Joe Todd-Stanton's atmospheric illustrations, the books follow Nate from his last year of primary school into secondary — through a best friendship that drifts, a bully's pull, a mum stretched to breaking, a seriously ill baby brother, and the overwhelming anger he learns to name and cage. Raw, funny and unflinching about hardship and family, yet quietly hopeful, the sequence is powered by words themselves: a teacher hands Nate the freedom to write, and writing becomes the way through. Reluctant and confident readers alike race through these books, which leave a lump in the throat.
A raw, tender verse-novel sequence about a working-class boy, his fragile family and the anger he learns to hold — funny, unflinching and quietly hopeful.
Primary themes
Tone palette
- Heartwarming
- Bittersweet
- Melancholic
- Inspirational
The series
One way in.
Cultural footprint
A shelf of evidence.
What The Final Year has done
- Major award winner
Cultural ubiquity
3/ 5Well-known to people who know the room.
Sensitivity
Moderate, and collection-wide.
Content notes
- Absent parent
- Bullying
- Illness or disability
- Poverty or hardship
Across the collection
All 2 books.
About the creator