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The Goodbye Year
It’s the start of 2020 and Harper is filled with anticipation about being in the final year of Riverlark Primary. She wants a leadership role, the comfort of her friendship group, and to fly under the radar of Riverlark’s mean-boy.
But one by one things go wrong. When Harper’s best friends are made school captains they are consumed by their roles, while her own role — library captain — is considered second-rate. Then something major throws life off her parents take overseas jobs as nurses in a war zone. Harper moves in with Lolly, a grandmother she barely knows — and her five pets, vast collection of old trinkets and very different expectations.
Just as Harper is getting used to Lolly, the pandemic arrives, and her goodbye year is nothing like she’d hoped it would be. Strange things are she wakes in the night in odd places, fixates on an old army badge that seems to have a mind of its own, and on a visit to the school library during lockdown she’s convinced she’s seen a ghost.
Who is haunting her?
Can she get through the anxiety of the pandemic without her mum and dad? And will Harper find a way to be happy with her goodbye year?
The Goodbye Year explores all the trickiness and confusion of the end of primary school and a new stage of life that looms with all its uncertainties and possibilities.
But one by one things go wrong. When Harper’s best friends are made school captains they are consumed by their roles, while her own role — library captain — is considered second-rate. Then something major throws life off her parents take overseas jobs as nurses in a war zone. Harper moves in with Lolly, a grandmother she barely knows — and her five pets, vast collection of old trinkets and very different expectations.
Just as Harper is getting used to Lolly, the pandemic arrives, and her goodbye year is nothing like she’d hoped it would be. Strange things are she wakes in the night in odd places, fixates on an old army badge that seems to have a mind of its own, and on a visit to the school library during lockdown she’s convinced she’s seen a ghost.
Who is haunting her?
Can she get through the anxiety of the pandemic without her mum and dad? And will Harper find a way to be happy with her goodbye year?
The Goodbye Year explores all the trickiness and confusion of the end of primary school and a new stage of life that looms with all its uncertainties and possibilities.
256 pages, Mass Market Paperback
Published August 30, 2022
2 people are currently reading
135 people want to read
About the author
Emily Gale
29 books97 followersEmily Gale has worked in the children’s & YA book industry for over twenty years. In London she worked as an editor for Penguin and Egmont, and later as a freelance manuscript consultant and pre-school book writer. In Melbourne she worked with the late literary agent Sheila Drummond, finding new children’s and YA authors; she has reviewed for Bookseller and Publisher, spent several happy years at independent bookshop Readings as a children’s buyer, during which time she was instrumental in establishing the Readings Children’s Book Prize, and worked in two school libraries. Emily’s writing includes novels for teenagers like Girl, Aloud, Steal My Sunshine, and I Am Out With Lanterns, as well as books for 10+ including The Other Side of Summer, Elsewhere Girls, and The Goodbye Year. Her junior fiction character is Eliza Boom, which is published all around the world.
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September 21, 2023The following book reviews have been shared by Text Publishing – publisher of The Goodbye Year
‘Timely and vivid, this brilliant book is a warm hug, a rustle of autumn leaves and the last day of term all rolled into one. I loved every minute spent with Harper, her friends, her sometimes-prickly gran, Lolly, her persistent ghost and her dear little trench dog, Hector.’
Fiona Wood, author of How to Spell Catastrophe
'A time capsule with a dash of mystery, The Goodbye Year encourages kids to be hopeful and brave. I loved it.’
Karys McEwen, author of All the Little Tricky Things
‘A sweet, gentle story about friendship, family…making sense of your world when everything is changing…discovering the past and noticing its connection to your present.’
Readings
‘The Goodbye Year is a beautifully written story that deftly weaves the challenges that Harper is faced with in 2020, into the historical challenges that confronted young people in the past…and shows that no matter what happens we can always rise to the difficulties that face us. A fantastic read for those in upper primary, especially those embarking on their own “goodbye year”.’
Lamont
‘The Goodbye Year is a great coming-of-age tale that explores themes of resilience and friendship. Gale has really nailed that feeling of being on the cusp of growing up.’
Better Reading
‘A moving story of change and the lives of children as they leave primary school.’
CBCA
‘Written so brilliantly…A book that articulates what so many young people might not be able to voice and reading this will be a beautiful healing experience for them.’
Great Escape Books
‘A deeply relatable story, with a hint of the supernatural, and a lot of heart.’
BookPeople
‘Harper is one of the most charming creations that has come along in children’s literature in a very long time, and her ability to notice the good in the world acts like a balm, soothing even in the most difficult of times.’
Gabrielle Williams, Readings
‘A moving and uplifting story.’
Michael Earp, SMH/Age
‘The Goodbye Year is a wonderfully written book that weaves its way through many different issues and historical moments in a very engaging and sensitive way.’
StoryLinks
‘It’s hard to resist a book housing a resident ghost in the school library!…A terrific novel to use as a platform for discussing facing teen fears and living through real-life crises…There is every reason to use this novel in the classroom as a model text.’
ACTATE
‘Timely and vivid, this brilliant book is a warm hug, a rustle of autumn leaves and the last day of term all rolled into one. I loved every minute spent with Harper, her friends, her sometimes-prickly gran, Lolly, her persistent ghost and her dear little trench dog, Hector.’
Fiona Wood, author of How to Spell Catastrophe
'A time capsule with a dash of mystery, The Goodbye Year encourages kids to be hopeful and brave. I loved it.’
Karys McEwen, author of All the Little Tricky Things
‘A sweet, gentle story about friendship, family…making sense of your world when everything is changing…discovering the past and noticing its connection to your present.’
Readings
‘The Goodbye Year is a beautifully written story that deftly weaves the challenges that Harper is faced with in 2020, into the historical challenges that confronted young people in the past…and shows that no matter what happens we can always rise to the difficulties that face us. A fantastic read for those in upper primary, especially those embarking on their own “goodbye year”.’
Lamont
‘The Goodbye Year is a great coming-of-age tale that explores themes of resilience and friendship. Gale has really nailed that feeling of being on the cusp of growing up.’
Better Reading
‘A moving story of change and the lives of children as they leave primary school.’
CBCA
‘Written so brilliantly…A book that articulates what so many young people might not be able to voice and reading this will be a beautiful healing experience for them.’
Great Escape Books
‘A deeply relatable story, with a hint of the supernatural, and a lot of heart.’
BookPeople
‘Harper is one of the most charming creations that has come along in children’s literature in a very long time, and her ability to notice the good in the world acts like a balm, soothing even in the most difficult of times.’
Gabrielle Williams, Readings
‘A moving and uplifting story.’
Michael Earp, SMH/Age
‘The Goodbye Year is a wonderfully written book that weaves its way through many different issues and historical moments in a very engaging and sensitive way.’
StoryLinks
‘It’s hard to resist a book housing a resident ghost in the school library!…A terrific novel to use as a platform for discussing facing teen fears and living through real-life crises…There is every reason to use this novel in the classroom as a model text.’
ACTATE
January 2, 2023
I'm a huge fan of Emily Gale's books, which are always imbued with a crystal clear sense of place and history, and laced with wisdom, wonder and the complexities of friendships, family and the milestones of growing up.
The whole of 'The Goodbye Year' is a gentle paean to everyone's lost year of 2020. Reading it will make you reflect on your own 'goodbye year.' I certainly did.
As the author herself puts it, 'There will never be a universal story about 2020.' If only everyone's pandemic experience could be as lovely, and elegiac, as the intersection of Harper Moss' goodbye/graduation year with the small, personal quest of a lost, World War 1 boy soldier to remember what it felt like to be alive among friends, and to help another living thing, one last time.
Really beautiful #loveozmg that will have you seeing and feeling it all.
The whole of 'The Goodbye Year' is a gentle paean to everyone's lost year of 2020. Reading it will make you reflect on your own 'goodbye year.' I certainly did.
As the author herself puts it, 'There will never be a universal story about 2020.' If only everyone's pandemic experience could be as lovely, and elegiac, as the intersection of Harper Moss' goodbye/graduation year with the small, personal quest of a lost, World War 1 boy soldier to remember what it felt like to be alive among friends, and to help another living thing, one last time.
Really beautiful #loveozmg that will have you seeing and feeling it all.
June 13, 2022
This is really good. It captures that Covid time in a way that lets us look back and remember.
Harper shows resilience and strength.
Harper shows resilience and strength.
December 29, 2022
A topical read for me right now 🤧 and certainly one I would suggest to my year 7 students. A lovely story about the importance of friendship, family, pets, libraries and being brave in times of change.
December 2, 2022
If anyone could take us back to the difficult times of 2020 lockdown in Melbourne and transform it into something uplifting and enriching it is Emily Gale. A writer of keen insight and generosity of spirit, The Goodbye Year is an instant classic!
Harper is navigating grade six, with leadership roles and changing friendships, along with changes in her body and her family. Her life is turned upside down when her health worker parents volunteer overseas and she is sent to live with Lolly, a grandmother she hardly knows. And then the unprecedented experience of lockdowns and the see-saw of restrictions and going back to school.
Harper is made library captain at school and she starts experiences strange ghostly happenings through objects she finds - a First World War cadet badge - the strange movement of leaves and the behaviour of birds. Is there someone there who is trying to connect to her?
Harper’s ‘goodbye year’ is challenging, haunting, uplifting and heart-warming. The power in this book is in how Emily Gale introduces the historical element of the First World War and the Spanish Flu pandemic which followed, while still anchoring the story in the everyday wonderful detail of Harper’s world. The information from the past - about teenagers who went to war and families that suffered from Spanish Flu - give the book perspective and help the reader to understand that others their age have encountered hard times, on a global scale, while dealing with the day to day things that matter in our lives – family and friendship. The story shows how interconnected humans are in the world today and to our past. The Goodbye Year shows us how to hold on to the important things in life, even if the face of incredible hardship.
This book is an instant classic and I would HIGHLY recommend for any upper primary child or especially for a child graduating from primary school.
Harper is navigating grade six, with leadership roles and changing friendships, along with changes in her body and her family. Her life is turned upside down when her health worker parents volunteer overseas and she is sent to live with Lolly, a grandmother she hardly knows. And then the unprecedented experience of lockdowns and the see-saw of restrictions and going back to school.
Harper is made library captain at school and she starts experiences strange ghostly happenings through objects she finds - a First World War cadet badge - the strange movement of leaves and the behaviour of birds. Is there someone there who is trying to connect to her?
Harper’s ‘goodbye year’ is challenging, haunting, uplifting and heart-warming. The power in this book is in how Emily Gale introduces the historical element of the First World War and the Spanish Flu pandemic which followed, while still anchoring the story in the everyday wonderful detail of Harper’s world. The information from the past - about teenagers who went to war and families that suffered from Spanish Flu - give the book perspective and help the reader to understand that others their age have encountered hard times, on a global scale, while dealing with the day to day things that matter in our lives – family and friendship. The story shows how interconnected humans are in the world today and to our past. The Goodbye Year shows us how to hold on to the important things in life, even if the face of incredible hardship.
This book is an instant classic and I would HIGHLY recommend for any upper primary child or especially for a child graduating from primary school.
August 21, 2022
"The library was more than a room of books, it kept people's stories safe for when they needed to be told again."
It is 2020 and Harper is excited. This will be her final year at Riverlark Primary school and she has big plans for how amazing her final year of primary school is going to be.
But from the start things start to go wrong. Her best friends are made school captains, and the only leadership position she got was library captain (the horror 🤣) - of a school library that is always closed and dark. Her parents, both nurses are going overseas to a war zone and she now has to live with her grandmother, who she barely knows. And then - there is a pandemic and lockdowns and her parents are stuck overseas.
This strange year gets even stranger when Harper thinks she sees a boys face in the dark windows of the school library. And what is with the old school cadet badge that keeps turning up? Could the school library really be haunted?
Of course, I was always going to be hooked on a book about a haunted school library - but there is so much more to this story.
This is a story about change, family, changing friendships and growing up... about being brave in uncertain times - such as getting ready to start Secondary School or living through a pandemic.
I loved the last global pandemic - the Spanish flu - played such a large part in this story. Probably a larger part than Covid-19 did. Young readers will be able to see that the world does recover from such a devastating event and that there is hope for the future - something that many might be needing at the moment.
But the main thing I want to say about this book is - read it, and read it now!
Thanks to Text Publishing for the review copy of this book.
It is 2020 and Harper is excited. This will be her final year at Riverlark Primary school and she has big plans for how amazing her final year of primary school is going to be.
But from the start things start to go wrong. Her best friends are made school captains, and the only leadership position she got was library captain (the horror 🤣) - of a school library that is always closed and dark. Her parents, both nurses are going overseas to a war zone and she now has to live with her grandmother, who she barely knows. And then - there is a pandemic and lockdowns and her parents are stuck overseas.
This strange year gets even stranger when Harper thinks she sees a boys face in the dark windows of the school library. And what is with the old school cadet badge that keeps turning up? Could the school library really be haunted?
Of course, I was always going to be hooked on a book about a haunted school library - but there is so much more to this story.
This is a story about change, family, changing friendships and growing up... about being brave in uncertain times - such as getting ready to start Secondary School or living through a pandemic.
I loved the last global pandemic - the Spanish flu - played such a large part in this story. Probably a larger part than Covid-19 did. Young readers will be able to see that the world does recover from such a devastating event and that there is hope for the future - something that many might be needing at the moment.
But the main thing I want to say about this book is - read it, and read it now!
Thanks to Text Publishing for the review copy of this book.
December 20, 2022
Our Review…
Harper is super excited to be at Riverlark Primary School, she has high hopes for what would be her final year before moving onto High School.
But it’s 2020 and no one could anticipate just how different life would become for Harper and her friends when the pandemic hits and life as they know it is changed forever.
To make matters worse, Harper’s parents decide to take on a once in a lifetime opportunity to work as nurses in a war zone and Harper is sent to stay with her strange Grandmother who she barely knows.
Distanced from her friends and what was supposed to be the most wonderful ‘goodbye year’ of her life, Harper begins to feel a whole range of emotions.
When entering the school library one day, Harper swears she saw a ghost. She is now convinced that someone is communicating from beyond with her as more and more odd things begin to occur around her.
Can Harper survive what is proving to be one of the hardest years of her life?
Written so brilliantly, this is perfect for ages 9 plus. A book that really captures the complex emotions that many children experienced when catapulted into navigating a pandemic at such a young age. A book that articulates what so many young people might not be able to voice and reading this will be a beautiful healing experience for them.
Also, great to read as a parent, to gain a better perspective and understand more.
Review by Lydia @ Great Escape Books
Harper is super excited to be at Riverlark Primary School, she has high hopes for what would be her final year before moving onto High School.
But it’s 2020 and no one could anticipate just how different life would become for Harper and her friends when the pandemic hits and life as they know it is changed forever.
To make matters worse, Harper’s parents decide to take on a once in a lifetime opportunity to work as nurses in a war zone and Harper is sent to stay with her strange Grandmother who she barely knows.
Distanced from her friends and what was supposed to be the most wonderful ‘goodbye year’ of her life, Harper begins to feel a whole range of emotions.
When entering the school library one day, Harper swears she saw a ghost. She is now convinced that someone is communicating from beyond with her as more and more odd things begin to occur around her.
Can Harper survive what is proving to be one of the hardest years of her life?
Written so brilliantly, this is perfect for ages 9 plus. A book that really captures the complex emotions that many children experienced when catapulted into navigating a pandemic at such a young age. A book that articulates what so many young people might not be able to voice and reading this will be a beautiful healing experience for them.
Also, great to read as a parent, to gain a better perspective and understand more.
Review by Lydia @ Great Escape Books
May 30, 2023
Another COVID-19 related book I read this year.
Harper is filled with anticipation about being in the final year of Riverlark Primary. But one by one things go wrong. She got the least important captain role, her best friends were consumed with their captain roles, her parents went to a conflict country as nurses, she had to live with her estranged grandmother, and now she sees a ghost.
At first, I thought I would see a strong bond between Harper and her grandmother, Lolly. But their relationship isn't what I expected to be, but it didn't disappoint me. I like everything about this book, except that I wish there would be a proper goodbye with Will. I think he deserved a much better explanation, a happier and teary ending where he finally knew why he was lost and the evaporate into thin air (okay, that's too much).
Aside from that, I like that Harper, though having a hard time at school, find a not-so-new friend, a friend she finally could she her differently. And I just loved their convo here!
And I love the mottos they put on their graduation book!
Harper is filled with anticipation about being in the final year of Riverlark Primary. But one by one things go wrong. She got the least important captain role, her best friends were consumed with their captain roles, her parents went to a conflict country as nurses, she had to live with her estranged grandmother, and now she sees a ghost.
At first, I thought I would see a strong bond between Harper and her grandmother, Lolly. But their relationship isn't what I expected to be, but it didn't disappoint me. I like everything about this book, except that I wish there would be a proper goodbye with Will. I think he deserved a much better explanation, a happier and teary ending where he finally knew why he was lost and the evaporate into thin air (okay, that's too much).
Aside from that, I like that Harper, though having a hard time at school, find a not-so-new friend, a friend she finally could she her differently. And I just loved their convo here!
‘No way, I love it. Harper, do you think we’re nerds?’
‘Mish, we’re definitely nerds.’
‘Good, that’s what I thought.’
And I love the mottos they put on their graduation book!
I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept. — Angela Davis
You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending. —C. S. Lewis
April 15, 2023
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:
Note: Review copy received from Text Publishing. This does not impact opinions within this review.
becandbooks.com ‧ trigger warning database ‧ more links
April 2, 2023
Beautiful. This book had so much heart - Harper was a character I felt I could warm to and wanted to be close to all the way through.
This also had a ghost story and I love ghost stories. It didn't feel out of place or silly in what was otherwise a very realistic story.
This story takes us through Covid lockdown year for Harper. This sort of story might sound like it is trying to latch onto a bit of news that will quickly become out of touch to kids as we now move past lockdowns and Covid isn't the biggest issue in the world. But Covid is still in the world, and even if it isn't the biggest issue, stories of struggling to understand your family, your friends and your place in the world ad your family history are enduring. That's why Harepr's story doesn't feel like it is ephemeral. There was an emotional honesty to this story that I really loved.
This also had a ghost story and I love ghost stories. It didn't feel out of place or silly in what was otherwise a very realistic story.
This story takes us through Covid lockdown year for Harper. This sort of story might sound like it is trying to latch onto a bit of news that will quickly become out of touch to kids as we now move past lockdowns and Covid isn't the biggest issue in the world. But Covid is still in the world, and even if it isn't the biggest issue, stories of struggling to understand your family, your friends and your place in the world ad your family history are enduring. That's why Harepr's story doesn't feel like it is ephemeral. There was an emotional honesty to this story that I really loved.
October 30, 2022
Harper can't wait for her final year at primary school, this will be the best year yet. As the summer holidays come to a close she finds that what her thoughts on how her year was going to be is starting to NOT be what she hoped. First her parents go to work overseas in a warzone, she has to live with a grandma she barely knows and her friends don't seem to be her friends anymore. Follow Harper as she deals with changes in expectations and what actually happens, she finds friendship in the places she never looked before.
February 7, 2023
The Goodbye Year by Emily Gale is a tender and insightful middle grade novel that follows a young girl named Harper through the cusp of teenage-dom and unforeseeable world changes. One of the few books I have come across to bravely tackle the impact of the pandemic, this story raises challenges that children all over the world will relate to. Friendship, loyalty, mystery and history all rolled into one beautiful book.
November 6, 2022
Such a great book. Only hook I have read based around a Melbourne lockdown in 2020, that talks about lockdown & schools being closed. Mystery of ghost & school library, parents nurses, overseas grandmother relationship, dogs & cats, jack Russell, friendship & finishing grade 6/ primary school. Beautifully written gem of a hook - highly recommended!!! JFIC
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 23, 2022
Harper's final year of primary school is turned upside down in so many ways - some of them personal and some of them global.
Her family and her friendships and her relentless curiosity all come to her aid as she navigates her goodbye year with courage and optimism.
Her family and her friendships and her relentless curiosity all come to her aid as she navigates her goodbye year with courage and optimism.
March 18, 2024
This book was so good. the character development is just so amazing. As you read on, the book will jsut start to get better and better. This is a great book for 12–13-year-olds, but it also doesn't have an age limit. I definitely recommend this book if you're thinking of getting it.
November 11, 2022
A gorgeous story about being in the last year of primary school during 2020. Lovely characters, a gentle storyline and a ghostly presence make this a sweet read.
January 14, 2023
Lots for Year 6 readers to relate to in this book.
March 17, 2024
Honestly, this was such a good book. The character development was so amazing throughout the book. It’s great for every age so I really recommend this book.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews