Teenage Prize Reading Guide - Jenny Valentine
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The Reading Agency Reading Guide to: The Ant Colony by Jenny Valentine This great guide will help you present a title to a reading group. There are ideas to trigger in-depth discussion and information about some exciting online resources. There are six guides in total, one for each of the 2009 shortlisted titles. Title: The Ant Colony Format [eg: pb/hb]: pb Pgs: 215 Publisher: HarperCollins Children’s Books Price: £6.99 ISBN: 978-0007283590 About the author: Jenny Valentine lives in Hay on Wye. She is married to a singer/songwriter and has two children. Jenny moved house every two years when she was growing up. She worked in a wholefood shop in Primrose Hill for fifteen years where she met many extraordinary people – including the inspiration for character Violet Park – and sold more organic loaves than there are words in her first novel. She has also worked as a teaching assistant and a jewellery maker. She studied English Literature at Goldsmith’s College, which almost put her off reading but not quite. Obscure fact: Jenny runs a wholefood shop in Hay on Wye, hoping to find more inspiration for future novels. What’s it about?: Number 33 Georgiana Street houses many people and yet seems home to none. To runaway Sam it is a place to disappear. To Bohemia, it’s just another blip between crises, as her mum ricochets off the latest boyfriend. Old Isobel acts like she owns the place, even though it actually belongs to Steve in the basement, who is always looking to squeeze in yet another tenant. Life there is a kind of ordered chaos. Like ants, they scurry about their business, crossing paths, following their own tracks, no questions asked. But it doesn’t take much to upset the balance. Dig deep enough and you’ll find that everyone has something to hide!
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8/14/2019 Teenage Prize Reading Guide - Jenny Valentine
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The Reading AgencyReading Guide to:
The Ant Colony by Jenny Valentine
This great guide will help you present a title to a reading group. There are ideas to
trigger in-depth discussion and information about some exciting online resources.
There are six guides in total, one for each of the 2009 shortlisted titles.
Title: The Ant Colony
Format [eg: pb/hb]: pb
Pgs: 215
Publisher: HarperCollins Children’s Books
Price: £6.99
ISBN: 978-0007283590
About the author:
Jenny Valentine lives in Hay on Wye.
She is married to a singer/songwriter
and has two children. Jenny moved house
every two years when she was growing
up. She worked in a wholefood shop in
Primrose Hill for fifteen years where she met
many extraordinary people – including the
inspiration for character Violet Park – and
sold more organic loaves than there are
words in her first novel. She has also worked
as a teaching assistant and a jewellery
maker. She studied English Literature at
Goldsmith’s College, which almost put her
off reading but not quite.
Obscure fact:
Jenny runs a wholefood shop in Hay on Wye, hoping to find more inspiration
for future novels.
What’s it about?:
Number 33 Georgiana Street houses many people and yet seems home to none.
To runaway Sam it is a place to disappear. To Bohemia, it’s just another blip between crises,
as her mum ricochets off the latest boyfriend. Old Isobel acts like she owns the place, even
though it actually belongs to Steve in the basement, who is always looking to squeeze in
yet another tenant. Life there is a kind of ordered chaos. Like ants, they scurry about their
business, crossing paths, following their own tracks, no questions asked. But it doesn’t
take much to upset the balance. Dig deep enough and you’ll find that everyone has
something to hide!
8/14/2019 Teenage Prize Reading Guide - Jenny Valentine
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/teenage-prize-reading-guide-jenny-valentine 2/2
Talk about:
1. “Ultra-original and brilliantly written, this will have you laughing and crying too.”
Mizz Magazine. What do you think makes this novel so original? You might like
to think about the style and tone of voice as well as the characterisation.
2. Sam tries to run away from his problems in the novel. It is only when Bohemia
runs away from him that he truly understands the consequences of his own actions.
Discuss the effect the characters in the book have on one another. How do our
friendships and our associations with others affect us?
3. The characters in the novel are very lonely people, many with secrets to hide, yet
they manage to reach out and create relationships beyond their own, often shocking,
circumstances. What do you think this says about the nature of human beings?
4. Why do you think Jenny Valentine chose the title, The Ant Colony?
Read more:
• Broken Soup, Jenny Valentine, • Finding Violet Park, Jenny Valentine,
HarperCollins Children’s Books • HarperCollins Children’s Books
• Iggy and Me, Jenny Valentine, • Me, the Missing and the Dead,
HarperCollins Children’s Books • Jenny Valentine,
• Harper Teen
Online:
To find out more about the Booktrust Teenage Prize, why not visit www.bookheads.org.uk.
If you’d like your reading group to be featured on the Bookheads blog please email
www.groupthing.org is an online community around words and creativity. Young people can
set up their own groups and start taking part for free. www.groupthing.org will be running
features and competitions on this year’s prize. Why not get the young people in your library
or school to join a group, or start their own!
More links:
• Jenny Valentine on Bebo: www.bebo.com/Profile.jsp?MemberId=8697270444
• www.harpercollins.co.uk/Authors/7187/jenny-valentine
Contacts:
Booktrust is an independent charity dedicated
to encouraging people of all ages and cultures
to engage with books and the written word.
Contact:
Claire ShanahanTel: 020 8516 2977
Email: [email protected]
www.booktrust.org.uk
The Reading Agency is an independent charity
which inspires more people to read more.
Contact:
Kathleen Keaney
Tel: 020 7324 2549
Email: [email protected]
www.readingagency.org.uk
