![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/together-2450090_640.jpg?resize=640%2C336&ssl=1\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nIncreasingly children\u2019s and young\nadult literature is tackling issues of social justice in areas as diverse as\nemotional disorders, family relationships, autism, epilepsy, anorexia, learning\ndifficulties, cancer, war, racism, the plight of refugees, environment, world\nissues. There are powerful children\u2019s\nbooks that have opened dialogue for social justice from The Curious\nIncident of the Dog in the Night-time<\/em> by Mark Haddon with its sensitive exploration of Asperger\u2019s syndrome and acceptance\nof difference to The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas<\/em> <\/strong>by John Boyne<\/strong>\nexposing racism, the outcome of a world without moral responsibility and the\nredemptive power of friendship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Young people read differently to adults,\nwhere if story touches to them, they will read and re-read that book, testing\nit against their developing value system. Fiction that addresses ethical issues\nsuch as bullying, inclusion, disability, racism,\nmulti- culturalism, gender identity, feminism, peace, sustainability, diversity,\nthrough relatable story is a powerful way to create empathy and action for positive\nchange.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ethical\nissues are deeply personal for me. My parents were refugees who went though\nwar, communism, the ultimate in power abuse. They were targets, bullied and\nvilified, not registering as human. We know about the Cambodian Killing Fields,\nArmenian genocide, the Anfal genocide of the Kurds, Rwandan genocide, the\nHolocaust. But we cannot fully comprehend those huge atrocities. We see, are\nhorrified, but they often are outside our experience, of interest, but what can\nwe do about it? People feel powerless, shocked, close their eyes, maybe donate\nsome money, send some clothes. These stories of victimisation are too big, too\nforeign, make us turn away, as we go about our lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But\nthere\u2019s a way to relate, to engage, to get under the skin of everyone. It\u2019s\nthrough the small stories of ordinary lives. My son Jack, is one of those small\nstories. \u2018I Am Jack\u2019 is his fictionalized story, when he faced school bullying. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Jack\u2019s\na great kid, funny, inventive, smart, a deep thinker, a good but annoying\nbrother. He has great mates, supports his grandmother, wants to be like his\nGrandad, helps his mother. JACK is your son or daughter. He\u2019s you or your mate\nor the neighbour or a kid in your school or someone you know. His family is\nyours, mine, ours. A mix master family with its quirkiness like all our\nfamilies, in our mix-master communities with all the permutations of what makes\nup family today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jack\ndidn\u2019t understand how he ended up targeted, isolated, bullied, until it wasn\u2019t\nfunny anymore. He was afraid, powerless, victimised. It was a hard journey to win against\nbullying, but he did with the support of family, school, community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n JACK invites you into a real home, family, community, life. Narrative truth can be powerful story and everyone loves JACK \u2013 our everyman – who takes bullying into your heart and makes you shout \u2018no\u2019. When Jack and his Vietnamese mate stand up together and lead the school, teachers, parents, kids, neighbours, everyone to stand up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n How\ndo I make JACK\u2019s world yours? I\u2019m a tricky writer. I draw unsuspecting readers\ninto the familiar, the safe, with humour and narrative, until they\u2019re captured\nemotionally, crying, laughing, angry, heroic, until JACK\u2019s story is theirs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The four \u2018I Am Jack books\u2019 invite critical thinking about bullying, blended families, aging grandparents,\nbush fires, multi-culturalism, community, \nterrorism, social responsibility within the safe and familiar context of\nfamily and community. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There are outstanding middle grade authors, whose books take readers\ninto these areas. Authors include the classics such as the Narnia books by C.S.\nLewis to books by Jackie French, David Almond, Jacqueline Wilson, Kate Di\nCamillo, Lois Lowry, Philip Pullman, Michael Rosen, Michael Morpurgo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Young adult novels are edgier than middle grade, reflecting that\nperilous journey between childhood and adulthood. They are a time when identity is fragile, communication high-risk. It is a\ntime of spiritual, sexual, emotional searching, friendship, peer group power, leadership, gender, dependence-independence\nin that journey for identity. There\nis a wealth of extraordinary authors who take young adults on this journey from\nthe classic \u2018Catcher in the Rye\u2019 by J.D. Salinger to the verse novels of Ellen\nHopkins, the teen novels of Cath Cowley,\nMeg McKinley, A.J.Betts, Neil Gaiman, Laurie Halse Anderson, Markus Zusak, \u2018The\nHunger Games\u2019 by Suzanne Collins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In my YA novels I\ntackle the tough issues of search for identity, driven by extraordinary\ncharacters like JACK, who are ordinary too, like us. Despite the tough\nchallenges, my books always offer hope. I have issues where YA books offer\ndespair as the outcome. Adolescents are smart and filled with ideas, but have\nlittle experience of dealing with life. Story can take them into the darkest\nplaces. However there must be pathways out, so they can embrace their talents\nand address their world and the global world. The line I wrote in my YA novel \u2018The\nCave\u2019, still moves me deeply:- \u2018war\nis not brave, but men can be brave in war and in life.\u2019 (The Cave, Chapter 13,\npage 141, HarperCollins)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally, what is the role of picture books in working towards global citizenship? The multi award winning picture book author\/illustrator Mo Willems writes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018We create our work\nfor children not because they’re cute<\/em>,\nbut because they’re human beings, deserving of respect.\u2019 There are so many picture books that provide a quick rhyme, a rollicking jaunt, cliched themes with predictable outcomes. They are fine, but when you find the gems, they will enrich those very young readers to create a world that is filled with possibilities, ideas, exploration. Who can bypass \u2018The Giving Tree\u2019 by Shel Silverstein with its ethical question of what is unconditional love or unconditional selfishness? Or the books of Oliver Jeffers, David Wiesner, Munro Leaf, Julia Donalson and Axel Scheffler, Maurice Sendak. In my picture books I am driven by my commitment to partnering children as they face the world in those early years of development.\u00a0 \u2018Ships in the Field\u2019 is autobiographical as my family found home and hope in a new country, while \u2018Gracie and Josh\u2019 is about the bond of siblings despite the challenges of illness. \u2018Elephants Have Wings\u2019 embraces mindfulness and pathways to peace. I have had enormous pleasure from the endorsement of Good Vision for Life and Vision Australia, for \u2018The Boy in the Big Blue Glasses\u2019 which within the ambit of pirates, play, friendships, raises the issue of sight impairment and self and group acceptance of difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n International Schools are at the forefront of creating global citizens and\nleaders of the future, as we seek to create an ethical world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I will end with an endorsement I received for my YA novel, \u2018Butterflies\u2019\nwhich still makes me emotional. I spent two years researching and writing \u2018Butterflies\u2019.\nSpeaking at the World Burn Congress about the power of \u2018Butterflies\u2019 to provide\nsuccor and hope to burn survivors, families and community, was one of the great\nmoments of my life. \u2018Butterflies\u2019 was written for all those who face the\nchallenge of teenage years and coming out as warriors for an ethical world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr Hugh Martin OAM<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n President of the Australian and New\nZealand Burn Association and <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Head of the Burn Unit, The Children\u2019s\nHospital Westmead, Sydney.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Every survivor has a story. Often the story is of interest, and even\nmore often instructive. \u201cButterflies\u201d is the story of a burn survivor, and is\nboth interesting and instructive. It explores the complex areas of the\nemotional impact of a burn on the individual and family while giving insight\ninto the world of hospitals, patients and doctors. It traces the development of\nthe personality from insecurity and relative isolation to a healthier level of\nself esteem that enables the individual to form balanced relationships with\nfamily and friends. It shows how the inner person can triumph over a\npreoccupation with surface scars and know that basic values of commitment,\ncaring and trust are more important than the texture of the skin.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Butterflies\u2019 has relevance outside the narrow circle of burn survivors\nand their families. It shows the ebb and flow of emotions that affect us all,\nparticularly in the transition between childhood and adulthood, and how\nparenting and family life make these bearable.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Those of us who are involved in the world of burns know how\nsurvivors need help from time to time, but slowly develop a depth of character\nand an inner strength which is rarely seen in others. Like tempering steel, the\nprocess of passing through the fire helps make a person of exceptional quality.\n\u201cButterflies\u201d captures these subtleties for the reader, and gives a stunning\ninsight into a difficult topic.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n ——<\/p>\n\n\n\n Paper: Butterflies<\/em>:<\/em> <\/strong>Youth\nLiterature as a Powerful Tool in Understanding Disability<\/strong>: http:\/\/dsq-sds.org\/article\/view\/844\/1019<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2015, I was deeply honoured to be\nawarded a Lifetime award for Social Justice through my body of works for young\npeople, by the International Literacy Association.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ———–<\/p>\n\n\n\n This article was submit by guest author, Susanne Gervay OAM. It was a privilege to speak at the Council of International Schools Conference in Melbourne recently. The educators committed to educating for global citizenship and an ethical world, were inspiring. Didactic teaching, while worthy, will have many students repeating the dictums that they have been taught, without understanding, empathy and\/or application. When the students work […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7585,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12],"tags":[2736,2737,1611,2739,2735,2738],"class_list":["post-7584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-highlighted-articles","tag-bullying","tag-childrens-literature","tag-council-of-international-schools","tag-ethical-issues","tag-global-citizenship","tag-young-adult-literature"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/together-2450090_640.jpg?fit=640%2C336&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2flVT-1Yk","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5025,"url":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/teaching-and-learning-through-a-multilingual-lens-in-the-early-years-part-33\/","url_meta":{"origin":7584,"position":0},"title":"Teaching and Learning through a Multilingual Lens in the Early Years (Part 3\/3)","author":"ISCommunity","date":"February 28, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"This article is part three\u00a0of a guest-author series by Eithne Gallagher:\u00a0The Glitterlings and Interlingual Classrooms:\u00a0Teaching and Learning through a Multilingual Lens in the Early Years Part one can be found here, and part two here. What is Oxford International Early Years: The Glitterlings? The Glitterlings is an Interlingual story and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Highlighted Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Highlighted Articles","link":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/category\/highlighted-articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/22222.png?fit=509%2C679&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":252,"url":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/overview-of-an-intl-school-2-berlin-international-school-excellence-in-education\/","url_meta":{"origin":7584,"position":1},"title":"Overview of an int\u2019l school #2 \u2013 Berlin International School: excellence in education","author":"ISCommunity","date":"October 24, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"How great that each international school is unique! In this overview of an international school we would like to highlight\u00a0Berlin International School in Germany. Currently there are 4 international schools listed in Berlin on International School Community. Berlin International School (B.I.S.) is the leading, non-profit day international school offering a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Overview of an Int\u2019l School"","block_context":{"text":"Overview of an Int\u2019l School","link":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/category\/overview-of-an-int%e2%80%99l-school\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5023,"url":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/teaching-and-learning-through-a-multilingual-lens-in-the-early-years-part-23\/","url_meta":{"origin":7584,"position":2},"title":"Teaching and Learning Through a Multilingual Lens in the Early Years (Part 2\/3)","author":"ISCommunity","date":"January 17, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"This article is part two of a guest-author series by Eithne Gallagher -\u00a0The Glitterlings and Interlingual Classrooms:\u00a0Teaching and Learning through a Multilingual Lens in the Early Years Part one can be found here. Inspirational Pedagogy Inspirational Pedagogy was coined by Cummins (Cummins and Early, 2015). He describes it as the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Highlighted Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Highlighted Articles","link":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/category\/highlighted-articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/3333.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/3333.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/3333.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/3333.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11498,"url":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/international-school-humanities-teacher-an-insiders-story\/","url_meta":{"origin":7584,"position":3},"title":"International School Humanities Teacher: An Insider\u2019s Story","author":"ISCommunity","date":"November 2, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"I've thought a lot about my own educational journey \u2014 and one word stands out \u2014 faithfulness. That's how I'd describe my path from becoming an educator to becoming the Head of Humanities at Braeburn Mombasa International School. It's certainly not been linear. Rather, it's been one of faith, perseverance,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "An Insider's Story"","block_context":{"text":"An Insider's Story","link":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/category\/an-insiders-story\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/mountains-7004455_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/mountains-7004455_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/mountains-7004455_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/mountains-7004455_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/mountains-7004455_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":101,"url":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/great-resource-want-to-work-at-an-international-school-in-jakarta\/","url_meta":{"origin":7584,"position":4},"title":"Great resource: Want to work at an international school in Jakarta?","author":"ISCommunity","date":"January 16, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"The Living in Indonesia website (www.expat.or.id\/orgs\/schools.html) has some excellent insight on the many international schools in Jakarta. There are many international educators interested in working at these schools.\u00a0 There are 27 international schools listed on the\u00a0Living in Indonesia website.\u00a0 Some of the international schools listed on their website are: El\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Great Resource"","block_context":{"text":"Great Resource","link":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/category\/great-resource\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/01\/screen-shot-2012-01-15-at-1-56-43-pm.png?w=350&h=200&crop=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1649,"url":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/international-schools-that-were-founded-in-1951-mexico-city-brussels-jakarta-more\/","url_meta":{"origin":7584,"position":5},"title":"International schools that were founded in 1951 (Mexico City, Brussels, Jakarta & more)","author":"ISCommunity","date":"February 11, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Random year for international schools around the world: 1951 There is much history in the international teaching community.\u00a0 We have international schools with founding dates of 1838 and 1854 and we also have many, many international schools with founding dates in the 21st century.\u00a0 The numbers are increasing for sure.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Highlighted Year for Int\u2019l Schools"","block_context":{"text":"Highlighted Year for Int\u2019l Schools","link":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/category\/highlighted-year-for-intl-schools\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Screen Shot 2013-02-11 at 11.27.05 AM","src":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/02\/screen-shot-2013-02-11-at-11-27-05-am.png?w=350&h=200&crop=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7584","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7584"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7584\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Susanne-Gervay-with-characters-high-res.jpg?resize=800%2C450&ssl=1\")
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\n\u2015 Mo Willems<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Screenshot-2019-10-15-21.42.43.png?resize=768%2C1024&ssl=1\")
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<\/em>
Website: <\/em>www.sgervay.com<\/em><\/a>
Facebook – <\/em>https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sgervay<\/em><\/a>
Twitter- <\/em>https:\/\/twitter.com\/sgervay<\/em><\/a>
Instagram – <\/em>https:\/\/instagram.com\/susanne_gervay\/<\/em><\/a>
Youtube – <\/em>https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/sgervay<\/em><\/a>
Linked in – <\/em>https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/susanne-gervay<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"