I Am Jack

Susanne Gervay (author)

Angus & Robertson, Australia: 2000; 126pp

ISBN: 0207199051 9+

Genre: realistic fiction

Issues: bullying, family, friendship, identity

Jack likes learning but he hates school.

He is an amazing photographer and very good with his hands - he can do anything from change a washer to repair a chair. He has a fine collection of quality tools with which he has performed these jobs around the house since his father left to live with another woman. He loves his hard-working Mum and his kind Nanna. He even likes his younger sister, Samantha, when she's not being too much of a pain. And Mum's new boyfriend is okay, too, although Jack's not sure about Rob moving in full-time.

His best friend is Anna, whose parents own the fruit shop, although they tend not to talk at school because boys and girls aren't supposed to be friends, according to playground politics. That is one of the reasons Jack hates school. The other is called George Hamel. George and his gang call Jack ‘Bum Head' and soon the whole school picks up the habit. Jack gets pushed, shoved and kicked when travelling on the school bus. The boys who used to play handball with Jack have dropped out - to be seen to be friends with Bum Head is just too hard; it is socially unacceptable.

Jack gets spat on in the change-room. His grades drop and he starts arriving late to school because it's the only way to avoid the bullying. He escapes to the library at lunchtime and treasures the school-free weekends. His headaches get worse and occur more frequently. He doesn't tell his Mum because she's so tired and busy that he doesn't want to worry her. Then one day Anna does something that changes things for the better and Jack learns that he is not alone, not a weakling, not a worthless person, and that his family are not the only ones who care about him.

This is an outstanding, realistic portrayal of the mindlessness of certain forms of bullying and the damage it does, both to the target and to the wider school community. The author captures the terrible hopelessness and overwhelming self-doubt felt by targets of such behaviour and recognises that ‘just ignore it' is often a completely ineffective response, regardless of what teachers and parents would like to believe.