Susanne Gervay – June 21 2020

National Burns Awareness Month – June

Susanne is a widely published and highly acclaimed author of children’s and young adult fiction. She holds a Masters of Education from the University of New South Wales and a Masters of Arts from the University of Technology, Sydney. Susanne was awarded an Order of Australia in 2011. Currently head of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) Australia East and New Zealand, Susanne has been Chair of the Board of the New South Wales Writers’ Centre, a writer and ambassador of Room to Read, role model for Books in Homes and speaker at many festivals and conferences in Australia and internationally. A second generation daughter of post World War II Hungarian refugees, multiple breast cancer survivor, and mother of a son who experienced school bullying, Susanne writes with passion on issues that inspire her. Her young adult literature includes Butterflies, The Cave and That’s Why I Wrote This Song (a collaborative work with her daughter). I Am Jack has been adapted into a play by Monkey Baa Theatre Company, of which she is a patron.

Butterflies
HarperCollins, 2001; ISBN 9780207198502
Reading age: 12+
Coping with severe burns, the hospital and doctors is not easy when all you want to do is be a teenage girl. Katherine was severely burnt in an accident when she was two years old. Now 17, she lives with her mother and 22 year-old sister. Their father left the family when they were very young. Katherine still needs regular skin grafts. This is a moving and well-written tale of emotional and physical damage and Katherine’s need to overcome her fears. It is a positive story of individual strength and family love. Whether a person is physically damaged or ‘perfectly normal’ life still has to be lived and the story of Katherine and her friends relates to all teenagers.

Always Jack – Illustrated by Cathy Wilcox
HarperCollins, 2010; ISBN 9780732290207
Reading age: 9+
Third in the I Am Jack series, this insightful and inspiring book about the effect of cancer on families can also be read on its own. Jack has previously battled bullies and faced the challenges of a newly blended family. Now, his journey continues …. His life is pretty good – he has brilliant friends, everyone loves his funny jokes and he’s a great inventor. But things are getting complicated. Nanna’s older and wobblier, he’s experiencing strange emotions whenever he sees his best friend Anna and Mum and Rob’s impending wedding is on hold while Mum is treated for breast cancer.