Jenny Valentine

Last updated

Jenny Valentine
Born1970
Cambridge
Occupationauthor
LanguageEnglish
NationalityBritish
EducationEnglish literature
Alma mater Goldsmiths' College
Genre Children's literature
Years active2007–present
Notable works Finding Violet Park
Notable awards Guardian Children's Fiction Prize
SpouseAlex Valentine
Childrentwo

Jenny Valentine (born 1970) is an English children's novelist. For her first novel and best-known work, Finding Violet Park (HarperCollins, 2007), she won the annual Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, a once-in-a-lifetime book award judged by a panel of British children's writers. [1] [2] Valentine lives in Glasbury-on-Wye, Wales [3] with her husband singer/songwriter Alex Valentine, with whom she runs a health food shop in nearby Hay-on-Wye. [4]

Contents

Writer

HarperCollins has published Valentine's novels in Britain and usually one year later in America. Finding Violet Park (2007) was re-titled Me, The Missing and The Dead in the US (2008). [5] Beside winning the Guardian Prize [1] it made the shortlist (seven finalists that year) for the annual Carnegie Medal, which the British librarians confer upon the year's best children's book published in the UK [6] [7] Basque, Catalan and Italian translations of the book were published in 2008, followed by versions in Dutch, French, German, Slovenian, Spanish, and Norwegian. [8]

Her critically acclaimed second novel, Broken Soup , published in January 2008, was shortlisted for the 2008 Waterstone's Children's Book Prize and the 2008 Costa Book Children's Book Award, [9] [10] and longlisted for the 2008 Booktrust Teenage Prize. [11] By 2010 it had also been published in Dutch and German-language translations. [8]

"Ten Stations", a short-story prequel to Finding Violet Park , was included among 2009 World Book Day publications.[ clarification needed ] That year Valentine also inaugurated a series of short stories for young children entitled Iggy and Me. [12] [ clarification needed ]

Valentine's third novel, The Ant Colony, [13] was published in 2009. [14] By 2011 it had been published in Dutch and in German translations. [8]

Her fourth novel, The Double Life of Cassiel Roadnight, was set in her home town of Hay-on-Wye. [15] It was also her fourth novel nominated for the Carnegie Medal, i. e. it was one of the year's top forty children's books published in the UK, in the estimation of librarians. [6] By 2011 it had also been published in Dutch. [8]

Valentine takes part annually in the Hay Festival.

Works

YearTitlePublisherAnnual awards
2007 Finding Violet Park
(US) Me, the Missing, and the Dead		HarperCollins
2008 Broken Soup HarperCollins
  • Waterstone's Children's Book Prize shortlist [9]
  • Costa Book Children's Book Award shortlist [10]
  • Booktrust Teenage Prize longlist [11]
  • Manchester Book Award longlist [16]
2009"Ten Stations" (short story) UK World Book Day
2009The Ant Colony
2009Iggy & Me (short story series)HarperCollins
2010The Double Life of Cassiel RoadnightHarperCollins
2010DoppelgangerHarperCollins [17]
2010Iggy & me (#1)HarperCollins
2010Iggy & me: The happy birthday (#2)HarperCollins [18] [ clarification needed ]
2010Iggy & me on holiday (#3)HarperCollins [19]
2011Iggy & me and the baby (#4HarperCollins [20]
2015Fire Colour One HarperCollins

Related Research Articles

The Guardian Children's Fiction Prize or Guardian Award was a literary award that annual recognised one fiction book written for children or young adults and published in the United Kingdom. It was conferred upon the author of the book by The Guardian newspaper, which established it in 1965 and inaugurated it in 1967. It was a lifetime award in that previous winners were not eligible. At least from 2000 the prize was £1,500. The prize was apparently discontinued after 2016, though no formal announcement appears to have been made.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Almond</span> British childrens writer (born 1951)

David Almond is a British author who has written many novels for children and young adults from 1998, each one receiving critical acclaim.

Debi Gliori is a Scottish writer and illustrator of children's books.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lauren Child</span> English author and illustrator (born 1965)

Lauren Margot Peachy Child is an English children's author and illustrator. She is best known for the Charlie and Lola picture book series and other book series. Her influences include E. H. Shepard, Quentin Blake, Carl Larsson, and Ludwig Bemelmans.

Sally Gardner is a British children's literature writer and illustrator. She won both the Costa Book Award for Children's Book and the Carnegie Medal for Maggot Moon. Under her pseudonym Wray Delaney she has also written adult novels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siobhan Dowd</span> English writer and activist (1960–2007)

Siobhan Dowd was a British writer and activist. The last book she completed, Bog Child, posthumously won the 2009 Carnegie Medal from the professional librarians, recognising the year's best book for children or young adults published in the UK.

Malcolm Charles Peet was an English writer and illustrator best known for young adult fiction. He has won several honours including the Brandford Boase, the Carnegie Medal and the Guardian Prize, British children's literature awards that recognise "year's best" books. Three of his novels feature football and the fictional South American sports journalist Paul Faustino. The Murdstone Trilogy (2014) and "Mr Godley's Phantom" were his first works aimed at adult readers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meg Rosoff</span> American novelist (born 1956)

Meg Rosoff is an American writer based in London, United Kingdom. She is best known for the novel How I Live Now, which won the Guardian Prize, the Printz Award, the Branford Boase Award and made the Whitbread Awards shortlist. Her second novel, Just in Case, won the annual Carnegie Medal from the British librarians recognising the year's best children's book published in the UK.

Janet Ahlberg and Allan Ahlberg were a British married couple who created many children's books, including picture books that regularly appear at the top of "most popular" lists for public libraries. They worked together for 20 years until Janet's death from cancer in 1994. He wrote the books and she illustrated them. Allan Ahlberg has also written dozens of books with other illustrators.

<i>Finding Violet Park</i> 2007 young adult novel by Jenny Valentine

Finding Violet Park, or Me, the Missing, and the Dead in the U.S., is a young adult novel by Jenny Valentine, published by HarperCollins 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. HarperCollins published the first US edition April 2008, entitled Me, the Missing, and the Dead.

S. F. Said is a British children's writer.

<i>Just in Case</i> (novel) Young-adult novel by Meg Rosoff

Just in Case is a young-adult novel by Meg Rosoff published by Penguin in 2006. Its adolescent protagonist David Case spends the majority of the book attempting to avoid fate. Rosoff won the annual Carnegie Medal, recognising the year's best children's book published in the U.K. In a press release announcing the award, the librarians called it "a story about death, depression, sex, choice and survival."

Emily Gravett is an English author and illustrator of children's picture books. For her debut book Wolves published in 2005 and Little Mouse's Big Book of Fears published three years later, she won the annual Kate Greenaway Medal recognising the year's best-illustrated British children's book.

Jenny Downham is a British novelist and an ex-actress who has published four books.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patrick Ness</span> American-British author, journalist, lecturer, and screenwriter (born 1971)

Patrick Ness FRSL is an American-British author, journalist, lecturer, and screenwriter. Born in the United States, Ness moved to London and holds dual citizenship. He is best known for his books for young adults, including the Chaos Walking (2008-2010) trilogy and A Monster Calls (2011).

<i>Broken Soup</i> 2008 childrens novel by Jenny Valentine

Broken Soup is a 2008 children's novel by Jenny Valentine. It was shortlisted for the 2008 Waterstones Children's Book Prize and the 2008 Costa Book Children's Book Award, and longlisted for the 2008 Booktrust Teenage Prize. It has also been longlisted for the 2009 Manchester Book Award and nominated for the 2009 Carnegie Medal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kiran Millwood Hargrave</span> British poet, playwright and novelist (born 1990)

Kiran Ann Millwood Hargrave FRSL is a British poet, playwright and novelist. In 2023, she was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

Andy Mulligan is a French writer best known for young adult fiction. His work is strongly influenced by his experiences working as a volunteer in Calcutta, India, and as an English and drama teacher in Brazil, Vietnam, the Philippines, and the UK. He has been married to Anne Robinson since their elopement in 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Onjali Q. Raúf</span> British author and the founder of the NGO Making Herstory

Onjali Qatara Raúf is a British author and the founder of the two NGOs: Making Herstory, a woman's rights organisation tackling the abuse and trafficking of women and girls in the UK; and O's Refugee Aid Team, which raises awareness and funds to support refugee frontline aid organisations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sita Brahmachari</span> British author

Sita Brahmachari is a British author known for her work in children's and young adult literature. Her debut novel, Artichoke Hearts, later published in the United States as Mira in the Present Tense, won the 2011 Waterstones Children's Book Prize.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Guardian Children's Fiction Prize 2007 (top page). guardian.co.uk . 8 August 2012.
  2. ↑ "Guardian children's fiction prize relaunched: Entry details and list of past winners". guardian.co.uk 12 March 2001. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  3. ↑ "Happy Valentines (From Hereford Times)". Herefordtimes.com. 15 December 2008. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  4. ↑ "Jenny Valentine". Davidhigham.co.uk. Archived from the original on 25 September 2012. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  5. ↑ "Me, the Missing, and the Dead by Jenny Valentine – Reviews, Discussion, Bookclubs, Lists". Goodreads.com. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  6. 1 2 Press Desk (directory). CILIP. Retrieved 8 August 2012. Quote: "media releases relating to the CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Children's Book Awards in date order." (2002 to 2006 releases concern 2001 to 2005 awards.)
  7. ↑ Jenny Valentine at Fantastic Fiction.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "Valentine, Jenny". WorldCat. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  9. 1 2 "The Waterstones Blog | Waterstones". Archived from the original on 15 October 2009.
  10. 1 2 Costa Book Awards
  11. 1 2 Booktrust Teenage Prize
  12. ↑ "Iggy and Me: Jenny Valentine". HarperCollins. 3 September 2009. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  13. ↑ Valentine, Jenny (15 December 2005). "The Ant Colony (Book) by Jenny Valentine (2009)". Waterstones.com. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  14. ↑ Mary Hoffman (11 April 2009). "Review: The Ant Colony by Jenny Valentine | Books". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  15. ↑ "Hot read: The Double Life of Cassiel Roadnight by Jenny Valentine". Gossip Blender. 22 February 1999. Archived from the original on 10 March 2012. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  16. 1 2 "flatsome-init". manchesterbookaward.com. Archived from the original on 21 July 2010.
  17. ↑ "Doppelganger | WorldCat.org". search.worldcat.org.
  18. ↑ "Iggy & me ; and, the happy birthday | WorldCat.org". search.worldcat.org.
  19. ↑ "Iggy & me on holiday | WorldCat.org". search.worldcat.org.
  20. ↑ "Iggy and me and the baby | WorldCat.org". search.worldcat.org.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.