What a great start to my 2024 reading! I loved The Goodbye Year by Emily Gale, a Middle Grade novel about twelve-year-old Harper, who has a lot to worry about as she starts her final year of primary school in 2020. Her parents suddenly announce that they’re off to Yemen to work as nurses in a war zone, leaving Harper behind under the care of an eccentric grandmother she barely knows. Her best friends have been made school captains and don’t seem to have time for her any more, some horrible kids are bullying her … and then COVID hits. As if that’s not bad enough, there’s also a mysterious old cadet badge that keeps popping up in the wrong places and a pair of ancient spectacles that fits Harper perfectly, which may just be connected to a ghost hanging out in the school library that only she can see.
There is a LOT going on here and for the first section of the book I wasn’t sure the author could pull everything together, but she manages it well and the conclusion is perfect (and made me cry). There’s so much to like about this book, but I especially loved the way history was presented for young readers, drawing parallels between the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1919 and the COVID pandemic a hundred years later, and emphasising the importance of libraries and historical archives. The characters are also well drawn. Harper is such a sweetheart – she’s anxious and shy, but stoic and brave when she needs to be, considerate of others and a good friend. Her grandmother Lolly is an independent, strong older woman, the child characters, even the bullies, are well-rounded, and there are some adorable dogs and cats. The ghost story is poignant and the associated historical artefacts are woven into the plot with a clever twist that I didn’t see coming but worked very well. I did have one question that didn’t seem to be answered. If you’ve read the book – do we ever find out the cause of the estrangement between Lolly and Liz? I’d thought something would come out when the family tree was revealed, but if it did, I missed it (admittedly, there were a dozen other things going on at the same time.) The Goodbye Year is highly recommended for young readers interested in history and is a worthy winner of the 2023 Young People’s History Prize in the NSW Premier’s History Awards.
Emily Gale has a Substack called Voracious, in which she discusses writing and children’s literature. I recently subscribed to it and have been given some free one-month gift subscriptions to give away. You can read everything at Voracious for free for a month, then either cancel your subscription or choose to continue to subscribe for a fee (currently $5/month or $50/year but I took advantage of a special Christmas 40% off discount). If you’d like a free one-month’s subscription to Voracious, leave a comment below – I’ll give the subscriptions to the first three people who comment asking for a subscription.