Jenny Valentine
Encyclopedia
Jenny Valentine is a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 children's novelist, best known for her award-winning novel Finding Violet Park
Finding Violet Park
Finding Violet Park is a young adult novel by Jenny Valentine, first published in 2007. It is about a fatherless teenage boy, Lucas Swain, who finds an urn containing the ashes of the titular Violet Park abandoned in a minicab office and determines to lay her to rest...

.

Book history

Her first novel, Finding Violet Park
Finding Violet Park
Finding Violet Park is a young adult novel by Jenny Valentine, first published in 2007. It is about a fatherless teenage boy, Lucas Swain, who finds an urn containing the ashes of the titular Violet Park abandoned in a minicab office and determines to lay her to rest...

, was published in 2007. It won the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize
Guardian Award
The Guardian Children's Fiction Prize or Guardian Award is a prominent award for works of children's literature by British or Commonwealth authors, published in the United Kingdom during the preceding year. The award has been given annually since 1967, and is decided by a panel of authors and the...

 and was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal
Carnegie Medal
The Carnegie Medal is a literary award established in 1936 in honour of Scottish philanthropist Andrew Carnegie and given annually to an outstanding book for children and young adults. It is awarded by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals...

. The book's success caused Valentine to become one of the most talked about authors in the country. It was published in the United States as Me, The Missing and The Dead.

Her second novel, Broken Soup
Broken Soup
Broken Soup is a children's novel by Jenny Valentine, published in 2008.It was shortlisted for the 2008 Waterstone's Children's Book Prize and the 2008 Costa Book Children's Book Award, and longlisted for the 2008 Booktrust Teenage Prize...

, was published in January 2008. It is her most critically acclaimed book to date and was shortlisted for the 2008 Waterstone's Children's Book Prize
Waterstone's Children's Book Prize
The Waterstone's Children's Book Prize is an annual award given to a work of children's literature published during the previous year. First awarded in 2005, the purpose of the prize is "to uncover hidden talent in children's writing" and is therefore open only to authors who have published no more...

 and the 2008 Costa Book Children's Book Award
Costa Book Awards
The Costa Book Awards are a series of literary awards given to books by authors based in Great Britain and Ireland. They were known as the Whitbread Book Awards until 2005, after which Costa Coffee, a subsidiary of Whitbread, took over sponsorship....

, and longlisted for the 2008 Booktrust Teenage Prize
Booktrust Teenage Prize
The Booktrust Teenage Prize is an annual award given to young adult literature published in the UK. The prize is administered by Booktrust, an independent charity which promotes books and reading.-List of Prize Winners:...

.

A short story prequel to Valentine's book Finding Violet Park
Finding Violet Park
Finding Violet Park is a young adult novel by Jenny Valentine, first published in 2007. It is about a fatherless teenage boy, Lucas Swain, who finds an urn containing the ashes of the titular Violet Park abandoned in a minicab office and determines to lay her to rest...

, entitled Ten Stations, was released in 2009 as part of the World Book Day short story releases. Valentine has also released a series of short stories for young children entitled Iggy and Me.

Valentine's third novel, The Ant Colony, was released in 2009 and was nominated for the 2010 Carnegie Medal
Carnegie Medal
The Carnegie Medal is a literary award established in 1936 in honour of Scottish philanthropist Andrew Carnegie and given annually to an outstanding book for children and young adults. It is awarded by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals...

.

Her fourth novel, The Double Life of Cassiel Roadnight, which was based in her hometown Hay-on-Wye
Hay-on-Wye
Hay-on-Wye , often described as "the town of books", is a small market town and community in Powys, Wales.-Location:The town lies on the east bank of the River Wye and is within the Brecon Beacons National Park, just north of the Black Mountains...

, was also nominated for a Carnegie Medal
Carnegie Medal
The Carnegie Medal is a literary award established in 1936 in honour of Scottish philanthropist Andrew Carnegie and given annually to an outstanding book for children and young adults. It is awarded by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals...

, becoming her fourth novel in a row to receive a nomination.

Personal life

Valentine lives in Hay-on-Wye
Hay-on-Wye
Hay-on-Wye , often described as "the town of books", is a small market town and community in Powys, Wales.-Location:The town lies on the east bank of the River Wye and is within the Brecon Beacons National Park, just north of the Black Mountains...

with her husband singer/songwriter Alex Valentine, with whom she runs a health food shop.

External links

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