In The First Year, award-winning poet Matt Goodfellow captures the raw, real, and often tender experience of starting secondary school. Through a powerful series of poems, readers follow a boy navigating the ups and downs of a life that is changing fast both at home and at school.

With honesty, heart, and hope, Goodfellow portrays friendships won and lost, worries that loom large, and small victories that feel monumental. It’s a story about growing up, finding your place, and holding on to yourself when the world feels overwhelming.

Written with sharp emotion and beautiful simplicity, The First Year is a moving portrait of resilience, vulnerability, and the brave leap into the unknown.