Carnegie Literary Circle

The Final Year
The Final Year, Matt Goodfellow A poignant verse novel about class, identity and family. Genre: verse novel, fiction. Nate is a ten-year old boy who is in his last year of primary school. As he moves into the next year, him and his best friend are put into different classes. The story explores themes of friendship, social class, parent and child relationships and identity. I really enjoyed reading the book; I'm a fan of verse novels and this form linked well with Nate being a keen reader and poet himself. As a teacher I loved the small criticisms in this book about the UK's Y6 SATs exams and the references to David Almond and his famous novel, "Skellig", which I taught in my first year of teaching. I also enjoyed the working class setting of the story and how Nate felt so inspired by his teacher. It is interesting to read about a working class character living in a deprived area without the stereotypical nuclear family. When Nate's brother gets ill I also found it interesting to see how the theme of family was developed. I really recommend this book to everyone in the group as it might allow you to take a glimpse into a world you are unfamiliar with and I think you will warm to the character of Nate very quickly. 6/7 stars.

Laura

The Final Year
The Final Year, Matt Goodfellow A poignant verse novel about class, identity and family. Genre: verse novel, fiction. Nate is a ten-year old boy who is in his last year of primary school. As he moves into the next year, him and his best friend are put into different classes. The story explores themes of friendship, social class, parent and child relationships and identity. I really enjoyed reading the book; I'm a fan of verse novels and this form linked well with Nate being a keen reader and poet himself. As a teacher I loved the small criticisms in this book about the UK's Y6 SATs exams and the references to David Almond and his famous novel, "Skellig", which I taught in my first year of teaching. I also enjoyed the working class setting of the story and how Nate felt so inspired by his teacher. It is interesting to read about a working class character living in a deprived area without the stereotypical nuclear family. When Nate's brother gets ill I also found it interesting to see how the theme of family was developed. I really recommend this book to everyone in the group as it might allow you to take a glimpse into a world you are unfamiliar with and I think you will warm to the character of Nate very quickly. 6/7 stars.

Mrs Copley

The Final Year
The Final Year, Matt Goodfellow A poignant verse novel about class, identity and family. Genre: verse novel, fiction. Nate is a ten-year old boy who is in his last year of primary school. As he moves into the next year, him and his best friend are put into different classes. The story explores themes of friendship, social class, parent and child relationships and identity. I really enjoyed reading the book; I'm a fan of verse novels and this form linked well with Nate being a keen reader and poet himself. As a teacher I loved the small criticisms in this book about the UK's Y6 SATs exams and the references to David Almond and his famous novel, "Skellig", which I taught in my first year of teaching. I also enjoyed the working class setting of the story and how Nate felt so inspired by his teacher. It is interesting to read about a working class character living in a deprived area without the stereotypical nuclear family. When Nate's brother gets ill I also found it interesting to see how the theme of family was developed. I really recommend this book to everyone in the group as it might allow you to take a glimpse into a world you are unfamiliar with and I think you will warm to the character of Nate very quickly. 6/7 stars.

Mrs Copley