Scan barcode
A review by becandbooks
The Goodbye Year by Emily Gale
4.0
The Goodbye Year is an incredibly heartfelt and well-crafted middle-grade novel tackling the young experience of the COVID pandemic in Australia.
Harper is in her final school year before high school when the pandemic hits. Her parents are overseas, she is living with her grandmother, the world is being turned on its head - and also she has seen a ghost. This is not the year she had been anticipating.
This novel tackles experiences that are incredibly real for young lives, in a time when no one can really understand what they are going through. Challenging themes - such as the impact on schooling and relationships from isolation and lockdown - are explored in a gentle and slightly fantastical way, becoming a story both relatable and intriguing. But by the end, young readers will realise that history repeats itself and there is always a path to the light at the end.
Note: Review copy received from Text Publishing. This does not impact opinions within this review.
becandbooks.com ‧ trigger warning database ‧ more links
Harper is in her final school year before high school when the pandemic hits. Her parents are overseas, she is living with her grandmother, the world is being turned on its head - and also she has seen a ghost. This is not the year she had been anticipating.
This novel tackles experiences that are incredibly real for young lives, in a time when no one can really understand what they are going through. Challenging themes - such as the impact on schooling and relationships from isolation and lockdown - are explored in a gentle and slightly fantastical way, becoming a story both relatable and intriguing. But by the end, young readers will realise that history repeats itself and there is always a path to the light at the end.
→ trigger warnings:Spoiler
bushfires discussed, death discussed, war themes, pandemic (specifically COVID & Spanish Flu), bullying
Note: Review copy received from Text Publishing. This does not impact opinions within this review.
becandbooks.com ‧ trigger warning database ‧ more links