Jenny Valentine facts for kids

Jenny Valentine (born in 1970) is a British author who writes exciting novels for young people. She is famous for her first book, Finding Violet Park, which came out in 2007. This book won the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, a special award given to the best children's book of the year by a group of British children's writers.

Jenny Valentine lives in a place called Glasbury-on-Wye in Wales. She lives there with her husband, Alex Valentine, who is a singer and songwriter. They also run a health food shop together in a nearby town called Hay-on-Wye.

Jenny Valentine's Books

Jenny Valentine's books are published by HarperCollins in Britain. Usually, they are released in America about a year later.

Finding Violet Park

Her first novel, Finding Violet Park, was published in 2007. When it was released in the US in 2008, it had a different title: Me, The Missing and The Dead. Besides winning the Guardian Prize, this book was also chosen as one of the top seven books for the annual Carnegie Medal. This award is given by British librarians to the best children's book published in the UK each year. Finding Violet Park has been translated into many languages, including Dutch, French, German, and Spanish.

Other Popular Novels

Jenny Valentine's second novel, Broken Soup, was published in January 2008. This book was also very popular and was nominated for several awards. These included the 2008 Waterstone's Children's Book Prize and the 2008 Costa Book Children's Book Award. It was also translated into Dutch and German.

In 2009, a short story called "Ten Stations" was released. This story was a prequel, meaning it happened before the events in Finding Violet Park. That same year, Jenny Valentine started a series of short stories for younger children called Iggy and Me.

Her third novel, The Ant Colony, came out in 2009. It was also translated into Dutch and German.

Jenny Valentine's fourth novel, The Double Life of Cassiel Roadnight, was published in 2010. This story is set in her hometown of Hay-on-Wye. It was also nominated for the Carnegie Medal, showing that librarians thought it was one of the top children's books published in the UK that year. This book was also translated into Dutch.

Jenny Valentine often takes part in the Hay Festival every year. This is a famous festival where writers and readers come together to celebrate books.

List of Works

Here is a list of Jenny Valentine's books and short stories: