3.5
Rooftoppers
ByPublisher Description
“The beauty of sky, music, and the belief in ‘extraordinary things’ triumph in this whimsical and magical tale” (Publishers Weekly) about a girl in search of her past who discovers a secret rooftop world in Paris.
Everyone thinks that Sophie is an orphan. True, there were no other recorded female survivors from the shipwreck that left baby Sophie floating in the English Channel in a cello case, but Sophie remembers seeing her mother wave for help. Her guardian tells her it is almost impossible that her mother is still alive—but “almost impossible” means “still possible.” And you should never ignore a possible.
So when the Welfare Agency writes to her guardian, threatening to send Sophie to an orphanage, they takes matters into their own hands and flee to Paris to look for Sophie’s mother, starting with the only clue they have—the address of the cello maker.
Evading the French authorities, she meets Matteo and his network of rooftoppers—urchins who live in the hidden spaces above the city. Together they scour the city in a search for Sophie’s mother—but can they find her before Sophie is caught and sent back to London? Or, more importantly, before she loses hope?
Phillip Pullman, author of the His Dark Materials series, calls Rooftoppers “the work of a writer with an utterly distinctive voice and a wild imagination.”
Everyone thinks that Sophie is an orphan. True, there were no other recorded female survivors from the shipwreck that left baby Sophie floating in the English Channel in a cello case, but Sophie remembers seeing her mother wave for help. Her guardian tells her it is almost impossible that her mother is still alive—but “almost impossible” means “still possible.” And you should never ignore a possible.
So when the Welfare Agency writes to her guardian, threatening to send Sophie to an orphanage, they takes matters into their own hands and flee to Paris to look for Sophie’s mother, starting with the only clue they have—the address of the cello maker.
Evading the French authorities, she meets Matteo and his network of rooftoppers—urchins who live in the hidden spaces above the city. Together they scour the city in a search for Sophie’s mother—but can they find her before Sophie is caught and sent back to London? Or, more importantly, before she loses hope?
Phillip Pullman, author of the His Dark Materials series, calls Rooftoppers “the work of a writer with an utterly distinctive voice and a wild imagination.”
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesRooftoppers Reviews
3.5
“Oh, read this superb children's book for not only the protagonist but for Charles Maxim! What a wonderful, whimiscal professor-type character. He always calls Sophie his ward "Dear heart" and everthing he breathes to her is filled with adoration..."You look like the stuff that elves are made of" and " You have been the great green adventure of my life. Without you, my life would be unlit" He also says wonderful things such as " Nobody is perfect. Nobody since Shakespeare" and " If you turn down the corners of the pages like that, Sophie, I shall have to bludgeon you to death with Robinson Crusoe!" ha! Thank you Katherine Rundell for bringing him into existence!”
“This is my second read through of Rooftoppers, and though I originally gave it a 5 star, I think I will move it down to a 4.5 after some thought. Don’t get me wrong, it is a wonderful book! Kathrine Rundell is truly an incredible writer, and I would most definitely recommend this to anyone. My only problem, and this may be entirely a personal problem, is that I found it difficult to get through the second half of the book. However, don’t not read it because of this, as I was not in a great headspace for reading at the time, and I could not concentrate on anything. This is weird review, as I don’t feel great at the moment, 😭😂 but: TL;DR definitely read, I just don’t put it on Harry Potter level.”
“Never ignore a possible. The beauty of music and freedom amongst the rooftops wrapped around the lost and found family really made this novel for me.
4.5/5”
About Katherine Rundell
Katherine Rundell is the author of Rooftoppers, Cartwheeling in Thunderstorms (a Boston Globe–Horn Book Award winner), The Wolf Wilder, The Explorer, The Good Thieves, and The Zebra’s Great Escape. She grew up in Zimbabwe, Brussels, and London, and is currently a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. She begins each day with a cartwheel and believes that reading is almost exactly the same as cartwheeling: it turns the world upside down and leaves you breathless. In her spare time, she enjoys walking on tightropes and trespassing on the rooftops of Oxford colleges.
Other books by Katherine Rundell
Terry Fan
Terry Fan received his formal art training at Ontario College of Art and Design in Toronto, Canada. His work is a blend of traditional and contemporary techniques, using ink or graphite mixed with digital. He spends his days (and nights) creating magical paintings, portraits, and prints. Terry is the cocreator of The Night Gardener, It Fell from the Sky, and Lizzy and the Cloud. Born in Illinois, he now lives in Toronto. Visit him online TheFanBrothers.com.
Other books by Terry Fan
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