The Final Year

by Todd-Stanton, Joe; Goodfellow, Matt

• ISBN13: 9781915659040
• ISBN10: 1915659043
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2025-09-01
• Publisher: Otter-Barry Books

Summary

Life can be tough in your last year of primary school. Tests to take, preparing for the change to high school. Nate is ready for it all, knowing his best friend PS at his side - they’ ve been inseparable since Nursery.

But when they are put in two different classes and PS finds a new friend in Turner, the school bully, his world turns upside-down. As he struggles to make sense of this and forge new friendships, he’ s dealt another blow when his youngest brother, Dylan is rushed into hospital.

His new teacher, Mr Joshua, sees a spark inside of Nate that’ s lit by his love of reading and writing and shows him how to use this to make sense of what’ s going on. But with so much working against him, and anger rising inside him, will this be enough?

This powerful and lyrical story, told in verse, about finding your place in the world and the people that matter within it explores themes of family, identity, belonging, navigating friendships and the hardships of everyday life in a working class family in the North of England. With line drawings by award-winning illustrator, Joe Todd-Stanton.

Author Biography

Joe Todd-Stanton is an author/illustrator who grew up in Brighton and studied at UWE Bristol, receiving a first class degree in Illustration. His picturebook The Secret of Black Rock was longlisted for the CILIP Kate Greenaway Award and won the Waterstones Children’ s Book Prize. DreamWorks Animation have optioned the motion picture rights to his Brownstone’ s Mythical Collection series. He has twice been shortlisted for the Oscar’ s Book Prize. Former primary school teacher Matt Goodfellow is now a full-time poet who visits schools across the country to give high-energy performances and workshops. His first poetry collection for Otter-Barry Books, Chicken on the Roof, received wide acclaim. He is also the author of Caterpillar Cak, illustrated by Krina Patel-Sage and shortlisted for the CLiPPA award, Shu-Lin's Grandpa, illustrated by Yu Rong and shortlisted for the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal, and a contributor to CLiPPA-shortlisted poetry collection Being Me: Poems about Thoughts, Worries and Feelings.