Six Weeks – at a glance
The School Reading Lists’ five word review: Holidays, family, loss, conversation, companionship.
Children’s book title: Six Weeks.
Children’s author: Matt Goodfellow.
Children’s ilustrator: Joe Todd-Stanton.
Genre: Children’s fiction, verse novel.
Published by: Starboard.
ISBN: 9781444982886.
Recommended for children aged: 10+.
First published: Paperback June 2026.
This children’s book is ideal for: looking at the issues surrounding the death of a parent in a sympathetic and caring way. Recognising the power of friendship and understanding by both children and adults when the unthinkable happens.
Trigger Warning: Death of a parent (mother) at the start of the story.
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Our review:
Twelve-year-old Alfie doesn’t like to think about last summer because that was when his mum died. Now, though, as the holidays are about to start again, he knows he has to. Life has been really hard and he wants his mum back, but, realistically, he knows this can’t happen.
Alfie used to live with his mum and him, but he doesn’t want to live there any more, so instead he’s at his dad’s, with his stepmum Sophie, and little sister, Alice, who was born the day after his mum died! Now, with six weeks in front of him, he’s going to write things down and go out on his bike.
When the pedal falls off his bike and he’s near his mum’s old place he calls in. After all, he’ll know what to do and his dad hasn’t got a clue! But everything is so hard, and no-one talks to him, so how’s he supposed to know what to do? Gradually, as he begins to see things through other people’s eyes and experiences everything seems a bit different and slowly he starts to look forward again, to where the light is shining and there is always hope.
Our verdict:
Six Weeks is a beautifully written verse novel by the author of The Final Year and The First Year, and looks at the loss of a parent through the eyes of Alfie Piper, a twelve-year-old boy whose parents were divorced and lived with new partners. We meet his dad’s wife Sophie and his baby sister Alice and learn how, after the funeral, Alfie announced that he wanted to live with his dad and not him, his mum’s partner, who he doesn’t like and whose references are always in bold. The book then moves on to the beginning of the next summer holidays, where Alfie plans to try to keep ahead of the pain by riding his bike very fast. He has no plan other than that.
Gradually, however, we see Alfie, verse by verse, and week by week, beginning to connect with him, which he’d never done before. They talk, he helps him with some jobs at his mum’s house, and through Alfie’s experiences, we see things a little differently. The author faces the problems Alfie is having head-on through the conversations he has with his dad, Sophie, him, and even his very difficult grandmother, who he also hasn’t seen since the funeral, and we are with Alfie as he starts to uncoil just a little bit, and then a little more.
By the end of the holidays, he isn’t back to being fine again. The author makes it clear he may never be like he was, but instead, he is able to inject hope and understanding into Alfie’s life as he matures and sees the world a little more positively.
The illustrations throughout this book are thoughtfully drawn and evoke both the despair and the slow dawn beautifully.
Teaching points and book club discussion ideas:
- Alfie lost touch with his friends after his mum died, but by the end of the book, he had begun spending time with Rudi again. Do you think it was a relief for Alfie when he knew they were friends again?
- It isn’t until the end of the book that Alfie stops writing him and uses his name. Do you think the use of bold letters worked to show the reader they didn’t get on? Why did you think that?
- Alfie’s dad is a teacher who was very happy at the beginning of the summer holidays and a bit fed up at the end. Did it surprise you that teachers might feel this way?
- In a cross-curricular activity with art or geography, look at a map of where you live. Design a poster to attract visitors to something special or unique they could visit if they stayed near you.
- This book is written in verse but doesn’t rhyme. Did you find it easier to read than an ordinary children’s novel? How difficult do you think it would be to write everything in rhyme?
- The subject of this book will be difficult to read for some children. Do you think using rhyme would have changed how they felt about this book?
- There is a trigger warning at the start of this book. Do you think it is a good idea to put it there?
Many thanks to Starboard for the review copy.
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