CHERRY BOMB

Nina Dall is one half of Sydney pop-punk band, The Dolls. Have they got what it takes to stay on top or are they just a one hit wonder? Told through the eyes of a young singer who's seen it all, this is celebrated rock journalist Jenny Valentish's debut novel.

Twenty-one year old Nina Dall has seen it all, including her own meteoric rise to fame and its inevitable aftermath. She created teen band The Dolls to escape suburban hell. Now she needs to prove she's not a one-hit wonder and convince veteran producer John Villiers to be her own personal svengali. But he's got his own problems. Rose Dall craves adoration, and through The Dolls, she gets it. But with the band's every move coming under media scrutiny and cousin Nina going off the rails, she's pushed to breaking point. Can The Dolls survive each other? Alannah Dall had a pop career in the 1980s before disappearing from public view. She's resurfaced to steer her nieces away from the same scandals, but with her own comeback on the cards, The Dolls start to become a threat. A stunning, mesmerising ride into the heart of love, fame and rock'n'roll. You have to risk everything to get to the top – and even more to stay there. But how do you get back what's been lost along the way? Jenny Valentish is the editor of Time Out Melbourne. By the age of sixteen she was self-publishing her work and her first job was as a music publicist. She’s interviewed the likes of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Kings of Leon, Mötley Crüe, Joan Jett and Lemmy, and has been in some (pretty terrible) groups herself. The literary anthologies she has contributed to include Britpulp! and Typical Girls (both Hodder & Stoughton), and Women of Letters Penguin). She co-edited the Allen & Unwin anthology Your Mother Would Be Proud.