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Image courtesy of publisher's website.
y separately published work icon The Goodbye Year single work   novel   young adult   children's  
Issue Details: First known date: 2022... 2022 The Goodbye Year
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'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 course: 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 happening: 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.' (Publication summary)

Teaching Resources

Teaching Resources

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Teachers' notes via publisher's website.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Melbourne, Victoria,: Text Publishing , 2022 .
      image of person or book cover 7289488615741922669.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 256p.
      Note/s:
      • Published 30 August 2022
      ISBN: 9781922458599

Works about this Work

Writing The Goodbye Year Emily Gale , 2022 single work
— Appears in: Magpies : Talking About Books for Children , September vol. 37 no. 4 2022; (p. 16)
Writing The Goodbye Year Emily Gale , 2022 single work
— Appears in: Magpies : Talking About Books for Children , September vol. 37 no. 4 2022; (p. 16)
Last amended 20 Oct 2022 12:30:22
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