Valentina: The President's Daughter

By Kevin Mc Dermott

Most of the world is burning or flooded. The temperate zones are still habitable – and one small island is teeming with climate refugees. Life in the Badlands is dangerous, disease-ridden, violent and controlled by gangsters and terrorists. But Valentina lives high in the privileged Citadel, at the heart of the heavily protected Green Zone. She is the president’s daughter, sheltered, spoilt and arrogant. When she makes a secret trip to the Badlands, however, with her friends, Pippa and Damian, she is forced to face up to the realities of life on the island and to the responsibilities her position brings with it. Dystopian fiction at its best, this will appeal to fans of The Hunger Games, Veronica Roth's Divergent series, Gabrielle Zevin's New York series and Meg Rosoff's How I Live Now.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Little Island Books
• Release date: Mar 1, 2012
• ISBN: 9781908195388

Kevin Mc Dermott

Kevin Mc Dermott lives in Dublin with his funny, smart wife, Mary, their daughter, Sinéad (Roe), and the family cat, Brunelleschi.  Son Eoghan lives in London and daughter Aoife lives in Cardiff. Kevin was a swot in school and went on to study English and Old and Middle English in college. He loved college and keeps going back.  He has an M.A. in English Language Studies, an M. Litt in English Literature, and a PhD in Education. He is always scribbling.  RTE broadcast two of his plays, one inspired by the life of the poet Ray Carver; the other inspired by Sylvia Plath’s poem ‘The Arrival of the Bee-Box’.  Decades ago he wrote and presented two radio documentaries.   He has published two novels and written for both Sunday Miscellany and The Quiet Corner. He works in teacher education and is editor ofTeaching English magazine. The magazine runs an annual poetry competition for young poets.  Kevin got the idea for Valentina when he read one of James Lovelock’s books on climate change.  He was so taken with Lovelock’s ideas that he a) went to Italy for three months and wrote the novel and b) moved to a new house way above sea level. He’d love to see a film version of Valentina with Tom Waits providing the soundtrack. Dream on, dream on.