SuitabookLast Lesson
James Goodhand
- Reading
- Because Ollie has brought a homemade pipe bomb to school and the story unfolds under a ticking deadline, consider checking in during reading rather than leaving all discussion until the end. Pause after difficult sections to ask how the tension feels.
- Themes
- Revenge and responsibility: The premise links Ollie’s experience of bullying to a planned act of revenge, raising questions about motive, responsibility and possible intervention. The premise clearly invites examination of motive and responsibility, but the book’s final judgement on Ollie’s actions is not established.
- Bullying, isolation and changed identity: Ollie changes from a popular, gifted student to an outcast and target of school bullies after an accident. The book foregrounds the effects of social exclusion and presents Ollie’s changed circumstances as central to understanding the crisis.
- Mental health and masculinity: The book is described as a sensitive study involving mental health and masculinity, alongside a student’s planned revenge involving a homemade pipe bomb. The book’s stance on this remains unclear.
- Worth knowing
- Pay attention to the treatment of the accident, Ollie’s changed social position, bullying, the homemade bomb and references to mental health. The intensity and consequences of these elements are not fully clear beforehand.