MMGM: Rooftoppers

 I'm posting today with the fantastic Marvelous Middle Grade Mondays blog hop hosted by Greg Pattrige of Always in the Middle. Check out Greg's blog for a list of additional middle grade reviews.

A few weeks ago I read and reviewed the charming Cartwheeling in Thunderstorms, an amazing debut novel from 2011. Since I liked it a lot, I went ahead and checked out Katherine Rundell's second book, Rooftoppers, to listen to as I drove to California. I ended up getting distracted by a great podcast about D-Day, so didn't finish the audiobook until a couple of days ago.

 

 

Title: Rooftoppers

Author: Katherine Rundell. Read by Nicola Barber

Publication Info: Simon and Schuster Audio, 2013. 6 hours. Originally published by Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2013, 289 pages.

Source: Library

Publisher's Blurb:
“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.”

My Review:
I have to say that Phillip Pullman nailed it--definitely this book, like Rundell's first, has a truly distinctive voice, and "wild" barely begins to describe the imagination that dreamed up this story. Once again, the narrator (Nicola Barber this time) gives a reading that adds whole dimensions to the story as well. My only complaint might be that at times Sofie's wonder comes across as insecurity in the tone of voice Barber uses for her. But most of the time I found it spot on, and her characterizations were a bonus. 

And the story? I categorized this as "magical realism" and "historical fiction," as I couldn't put a finger on a definite time period for the story, but it has a somewhat historical feel, from the comments about clothing (it not being "right" for Sophie to wear trousers) to the whole sparking incident being a passenger ship sinking. And then there's the magical-feeling elements. Sophie was an infant at the time of the shipwreck, but remembers certain things about it and her mother. Other characters among the rooftoppers (whose very existence feels both historical and magical--I can almost believe that there were children living on the rooftops of turn-of-the-century Paris) have slightly uncanny abilities to balance, to hear, to see. 

The brilliance of the writing is that all of it ends up completely believable, with just a hint of Mary Poppins in that rooftop world--in a good way. And the heart of the story is that love wins out, which is a nice message.

My Recommendation:
No question, this is a book to listen to and enjoy, or to read without putting it down. I can heartily recommend it for good readers from about 8 and up--there's nothing too scary or grown-up in the story.

 

FTC Disclosure: I checked Rooftoppers out of my library, and received nothing from the writer or publisher for my honest review.  The opinions expressed are my own and those of no one else.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."  



Rebecca M. Douglass, 2025
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