The Final Year
Part of the collectionThe Final Year→Follow Nate from primary into secondary school in spare, powerful free verse — honest about hardship, family and anger, and always quietly hopeful.
- Books2
- Arcs1
- Span2023–2025
- StatusOngoing
The series
At a glance.
Matt Goodfellow's verse-novel sequence following Nate, a working-class boy, told in spare, powerful free verse and illustrated throughout by Joe Todd-Stanton. The Final Year takes Nate through his last year of primary school as his best friend drifts to a bully, money is tight, his single mum is stretched thin, and his baby brother Dylan is rushed to hospital — with his teacher Mr Joshua handing him words as a way through. The First Year carries him into secondary school, where old bullies, a shifting home life and the fury he calls The Beast threaten to pull him apart. Each book reads as a complete, gripping story in its own right, but returning readers feel the full weight of everything Nate carries. Honest about hardship, family and the storm of growing up, and quietly hopeful.
Follow Nate from primary into secondary school in spare, powerful free verse — honest about hardship, family and anger, and always quietly hopeful.
Primary themes
Overall tone
- Heartwarming
- Bittersweet
- Melancholic
- Inspirational
Best read in order (The Final Year, then The First Year), though each stands alone as a complete story.
One arc
The shape of the series.
- INarrative arcBooks 1–2 · 2023–2025Moderate sensitivity
Nate's story
A working-class boy holds his fragile family and his own anger together, from the end of primary into secondary school.
Nate's story told in free verse. The Final Year follows his last year of primary school: his best mate PS drifts to the bully Turner, money at home is tight, his single mum is stretched to breaking, and his baby brother Dylan is rushed to hospital — until his teacher Mr Joshua gives him words and the freedom to write. The First Year carries Nate into secondary school, where familiar bullies, a shifting home life and a surprise addition to the family stir the fury he calls The Beast, the anger he fights to keep caged before it tears through everything he loves. The CLiPPA-winning first book was also shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal for Writing. Both are honest about hardship, family and the feelings of growing up, and both land on hope.
Fit check
Right for your reader?
Where the series lands by age
- 1
- 3
- 5
- 7
- 9
- 11
- 13
- 15
- 17
- 19
- Best fit · 9–13
- Read aloud · 9–13
- Independent · 9–14
Reluctant-reader friendliness
Very high
Read-aloud quality
Excellent
Adult crossover
High
Grows with the reader
Designed to
Sensitivity envelope
Moderate overall, and consistent.
Content notes
- Absent parent
- Bullying
- Illness or disability
- Poverty or hardship
About the author