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Rooftoppers

by Katherine Rundell

A search across Paris’s rooftops

Critically Recognized
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Regular price $19.90 USD Sale price $11.94 USD
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Awards & Recognition

  • Critical praise

    Praise from Publishers Weekly

    Publishers Weekly praises the tale’s beauty and themes.

AlbakiReads Editorial

A search across Paris’s rooftops

Sophie’s search for the mother she remembers turns a question of family history into a journey through Paris’s hidden spaces. With the threat of being sent to an orphanage pressing on her, she follows the address of a cello maker and joins Matteo and the rooftoppers, children who live above the city. The cello, the shipwreck and the rooftops connect the story’s questions of belonging and survival with a child’s determination to keep open the possibility of reunion. Paris is not just a destination: its concealed spaces become part of the search itself.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • For children ages 9–12 interested in stories about orphans, guardianship and family searches.
  • For readers drawn to child-led adventures set in Paris and its hidden rooftop spaces.
  • For readers interested in music-related clues and stories about belonging and hope.

Themes

Family and belongingOrphanhood and guardianshipHope and persistenceHidden city spaces

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

"The work of a writer with an utterly distinctive voice and a wild imagination." --Philip Pullman, author of the His Dark Materials series

"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 from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Impossible Creatures, Katherine Rundell.

Everyone thinks 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, she takes matters into her own hands and flees to Paris to look for her mother, starting with the only clue she has--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?
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Customer reviews

M
AlbakiReads
Malaika Taylor

I highly recommend to for anyone looking for inner clarity

T
AlbakiReads
Thomas DiMassa

Great service and fast service

Great shopping experience! The book arrived quickly, was well packaged, and matched the description perfectly. I would definitely shop with you again

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Olivia

Smooth.