Sarah is an award winning illustrator and a great friend. We meet at the Sydney Children’s Writers & Illustrators’ Network at The Hughenden.
Check out her website: – www.sarahdavisillustration.com.
She loves I AM JACK and she created this funny, warm and relevant book trailer.
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne hits you in the guts with racism and how it destroys all of us.
The Curious Incident of thd Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon takes you into autism and suddenly you get it and care.
My ‘I Am Jack’ drops you into bullying and the isolation, fear and how to work it out.
Kids’ books emotionally engage young readers and change the world.
I’m speaking about: – ‘Youth Literature: A Global Strategy for Social Justice’ using my books to illustrrate this – at this fantastic conference in GOA.
There’ll be an Indian launch of anthology Fear Factor: Terror Incognito edited by Meenaskshi Bharat and Sharon Rundle which will be fantastic. Sharon is speaking at the Conference as well. 
Also plan to visit the beaches and share ideas aross the world.
I’m flying out this morning. Wish me luck
The Book Chook
Book Reviews, I am Jack, and Super Jack
Posted: 09 Jan 2010 04:18 PM PST
One of my favourite books ever is I am Jack, by Susanne Gervay (Angus and Robertson/Harper Collins Publishers 2000). A couple of months ago, I was lucky enough to see I am Jack performed on stage in Brisbane (Queensland, Australia), and what a treat that was! In my post about it, I described the performance as having “lots of opportunities for laughter, but also moments when 150 children sat transfixed and made not a sound.”Next is humour. Does that seem to conflict with such a serious theme? Not at all with Gervay’s deft handling. There is drama, tension, conflict AND humour as we get to know Jack and his family.
That brings me to character – Gervay’s characters are thoroughly believable. I’m sure I know Nanna – enjoys a chat, a little hard-of-hearing, loves to score a bargain or ten at the shops – and all the other characters are just as real. Even when the bully George made me furious on Jack’s behalf, he was always three dimensional, not a stereotype.
Above all though, as with many great books, I think I am Jack
shines because of its authentic voice. From the first lines, we hear the narrator as a young boy. We experience his anguish; share his corny jokes one minute and pant with him the next as he runs to escape the bullies. Jack grows, changes, learns lots about who he is and what is important to him during the book, and through him, so do we.Super Jack (Angus and Robertson/Harper Collin 2003) continues with the great characters we met in I am Jack. This time we experience the highs and lows of Jack’s life against the backdrop of a holiday on the Gold Coast. Super Jackintroduces a new problem for Jack in the form of Leo, his sort-of-step-dad Rob’s son. Jack also must cope with worries about Nanna’s health, his growing affection for Anna, and Rob moving in. He’s such a great kid though, you just know he’ll sort it out in the end!Cathy Wilcox’s illustrations are only occasional in what is really a chapter book. We find them most often as chapter headers. But there are also some quirky, comic-style sketches that contribute an extra visual element to Gervay’s word pictures.Both I am Jack, and Super Jack are perfect for kids 8-12. They deal with serious issues in a light-hearted way, but above all, are great stories from a superb story teller. If you’d like to take a peek inside, the Harper Collins site offered me the option of letting you browse inside the book via my blog in the widget below.
Susanne Gervay’s own website adds real value to the books. You can check out a cute trailer of I am Jack, link to find Monkey Baa stage show performances, get more information about bullying, and discover a ton of useful literacy activities tied to the books. The great news here too, is that US readers can share the fun – it’s published in the USA by Tricycle Press, an imprint of Random House USA, and has been translated into Korean, Bahasa and Vietnamese.
It’s difficult to pinpoint why I like the novel, I am Jack
, so much. I guess it’s a combination of factors. Firstly must come its theme – bullying. I loathe the consequences of bullying and applaud Gervay for writing a book that shows victims of bullying that they’re not alone in that scary, lonely place. Her honesty and matter-of-factness make this book accessible to kids who may not be able to speak up for themselves.
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SCBWI IndiaInvites you to
Writing for Children
Jan 27, 2010, 6-7.30 pm
British Council Library, Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi 01
For more information and membership enquiries, contact
Jyoti Singh Visvanath, Regional Advisor, SCBWI India
(011-29212017), scbwi.india@gmail.com
Charges Rs 100 for members of SCBWI and Rs 200 for non-members
Susanne Gervay, visiting Australian author and Co-Regional Advisor of the Australian chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), talks about her journey as a writer of children’s books. She is joined by Sayoni Basu of Scholastic India, who shares her views on the state of children’s publishing in India and the importance of a professional organisation for writers and illustrators. India now has its own chapter of SCBWI and this is its first event.
Susanne Gervay is an award winning Australian author whose children’s and young adult novels have been recognised for their relevance to social justice. They include the recently released US edition of I am Jack, a rite-of-passage book on school bullying; Butterflies, a book that deals with disability and That’s Why I Wrote This Song, a collaborative work with her song writer-singer daughter Tory.
Susanne has spoken at numerous conferences and festivals including the Beijing Literature Festival, Ubud Writers & Readers Festival Bali, World Burn Congress New York, SCBWI Conference at the Bologna Book Fair. She is on the board of the NSW Writers Centre and is Director of the Kids and Young Adult Literature Festival Sydney. She is also Chair of The Sydney Children’s Writers & Illustrators Network at The Hughenden and Co-Regional Advisor of Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators Australia & New Zealand.
www.sgervay.com www.sgervay.com/blog www.thehughenden.com.au 
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
Burning Eddy by Scot Gardner
The Cave by Susanne Gervay
Dougy by James Moloney
Gone by Michael Grant
Guantanamo Boy by Anna Perera
The Highest Tide by Jim Lynch
Airman by Eoin Colfer
The Great Gatenby by John Marsden
When Dogs Cry by Markus Zusak
See http://fairfieldbooksonstation.wordpress.com
This is the top 10 Books selected by Fairfieldbooks On Station Melbourne – great book shop
Open to all published Kids and Young Adult authors and illustrators, the Sydney Network at The Hughenden, 14 Queen Street Woollahra (Paddington) starts again the first Wednesday of every month from 3rd February 2010:- 
Just turn up or contact Susanne through the website: www.sgervay.com
10.30-12.30 am for networking, sharing publishing news both personal and about the industry.
12.30-2.30 Optional light lunch at The Hughenden for networking
Benefits:
Build friendships in the writing community
Update news about publishing and publishers
Information and opportunities about festivals, conferences, school visits
Support the world community through Room to read www.roomtoread.org, Monkey Baa Theatre for Young People www.monkeybaa.com.au, Alannah & Madeline Foundation www.amf.org.au and The Hope Cards where authors and illustrators of the world sent their love and hope to the children of the Australian bushfires.
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