The First Year

From award-winning poet, Matt Goodfellow comes the eagerly awaited sequel to best-selling verse novel, The Final Year

Nate’s eleven and has just finished Primary School. After a challenging final year, life is looking up. His brother has recovered from a life-threatening heart condition, he’s got the love of his mum, brothers and Auntie San, and he’s off to Secondary School with his two best mates. While he’s finding his feet in a new school with high expectations, new friends and avoiding the focus and fists of Turner, his old nemesis; an unexpected arrival turns his whole world upside-down. As The Beast - the anger he tries so hard to control - reappears, will Nate find a way to keep himself and his family together?

"This is so beautiful. Even better than The Final Year if that is possible. Cried buckets towards the end. Everyone needs to read this. The sibling’s relationship is perfection."

"The seeming simplicity of the text belies the complexity of emotion and experience which the story explores. The power and poignancy in places is breathtaking, making Nate’s continued story every bit as engaging as it was in The Final Year."

"As with the previous novel, the verse format makes for an accessible read, enhanced by Joe Todd-Stanton’s engaging illustrations… The realistic language and inner-city setting add to the text’s authenticity...The First Year is a powerful and engaging novel, particularly relevant for Year 6 pupils facing their own imminent move to secondary school, as well as those who may be struggling to fit in once they reach Year 7."

“Matt Goodfellow gets more wonder, fear and love into starting a new school than most writers get out of the whole multiverse."

"I loved it as much as the The Final Year. It pushes all the right buttons for me - honest, warm, compassionate and a celebration of family and friendship."

"This sequel to The Final Year continues in heartfelt free verse, exploring themes of hope and growth. Illustrated by Joe Todd-Stanton, The First Year is powerful, real and uplifting. Highly recommended."

"Ideal for readers of 10 or 11+, this enthralling, beautifully crafted verse novel, Goodfellow’s sequel to the award-winning The Final Year, can also be read as a standalone."

"This is a verse novel where the story unfolds through poetry. Some of the shortest and more sparse poems are the ones that evoke the greatest depth of emotion, with the white space on the page providing the reader with a moment to reflect and process – but only a moment, as this is really is a page-turner that makes you greedy to read on. This book is longer than the first, and Goodfellow’s shrewdly chosen words powerfully convey a wide-ranging complexity of feelings while also moving forward plot and character development at an enjoyable pace.

This verse novel is an absolute triumph and is certain to receive the same well-deserved reception as The Final Year."

"I was the most enormous fan of The Final Year, as I have been of Matt Goodfellow’s published poetry collections, so I approached The First Year with just a little trepidation – could Matt work the same magic again? I’m glad to say that he more than delivers. There is so much think and talk about: freedom and constraint; where we find ourselves; what forms us and what defines us."

"This is a fantastic, fabulous, wonderful book... Written in free verse, it's powerful, emotional, gripping and uplifting. It's full of hope and courage while also being real, dark, sad and challenging...

With illustrations once again from Joe Todd-Stanton, this is another hit. Breathtakingly brilliant."

Now a multi award winning full-time poet, Matt Goodfellow's debut novel, told in verse, The Final Year, illustrated by Joe Todd-Stanton, for middle-grade readers, won The CLiPPA Award for Children’s Poetry 2024 and the Children’s Book Award for Older Readers 2024 (Federation of Children’s Book Groups) amongst many others. He is also the author of Caterpillar Cake, illustrated by Krina Patel-Sage and shortlisted for the CLiPPA award in 2022, Shu-Lin’s Grandpa, illustrated by Yu Rong and shortlisted for the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal 2022 and a contributor to CLiPPA-shortlisted poetry collection Being Me: Poems about Thoughts, Worries and Feelings, all published by Otter-Barry Books.

Joe Todd-Stanton grew up in Brighton and has a first class degree in Illustration from UWE, Bristol. He is a widely acclaimed author and illustrator of picture books and graphic novels including The Secret of Black Rock and The Comet. He illustrated the award-winning The Final Year, by Matt Goodfellow. His latest book is Luna and the Treasure of Tlaloc, published in 2024. He lives in London.

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