List Of Writers

VALENTINE, JENNY

Jenny worked in a wholefood shop in Primrose Hill for fifteen years where she met many extraordinary people and sold a lot of organic loaves. She has also worked as a teaching assistant and a jewellery maker, and has recently started writing children’s books. Jenny studied English Literature at Goldsmiths College, which almost put her off reading but not quite. She now lives in Hay-on-Wye and is married to a singer/songwriter. Her debut novel Finding Violet Park (HarperCollins Children’s Books, 2007) won the 2007 Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize and was on both the Branford Boase and Carnegie shortlist. Her second novel Broken Soup (HarperCollins Children’s Books, 2007) was shortlisted for the Waterstones 2008 Children’s Book Prize. Some of her novels are set in Wales.

Reviews:
With respect to Me, the Missing, and the Dead (Harperteen, 2008)

”…It’s difficult to pinpoint just what makes this…debut so quietly disturbing yet so compulsively readable…the novel raises serious questions about death even as it exposes the entrails of a broken family. Even with the heavy subject matter, Valentine gives humour free reign...A memorable new voice…”
Publishers Weekly

"...The voice is fresh and humorous, which keeps the melodrama low and the atmosphere light. Everyday quirkiness brings the secondary characters to life as distinct individuals, and fortuitous turns in the plot lead to the answers to...critical questions. Charmingly told, this mystery manages to be both frothy and nourishing..."
Kirkus Reviews


Selected Publications:
Finding Violet Park (HarperCollins Children’s Books, 2007)
Broken Soup (HarperCollins Children’s Books, 2007)
Me, the Missing, and the Dead (Harperteen, 2008)
The Ant Colony (Harperteen, 2009)

Contributed to:
Ten Stations / Mates Dates: the Secret Story (co-writer) (HarperCollins, 2009)