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    Rooftoppers
    Rooftoppers
    Rooftoppers
    Audiobook5 hours

    Rooftoppers

    Written by Katherine Rundell

    Narrated by Nicola Barber

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    “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.”
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster Audio
    Release dateSep 24, 2013
    ISBN9781442366565
    Author

    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.

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    Reviews for Rooftoppers

    4/5

    139 ratings15 reviews

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    • 5/5
      "Rooftoppers"by Katherine Rundell is an amazing, riveting work of art. From the first page, the book is about family, longing, and belonging. Rundell is a creative and imaginative conductor. This is the tragi-comic story of a young girl who has to redefine her own world. I was moved, terrified, and delighted. -Breton W Kaiser-Shinn
    • 5/5
      This book is one of my all-time absolute favorites !!! and I would definitely give this book a five star ⭐️ or more review and if you like this book ?you should also definitely check out the wolf Wilder ? I would also suggest sky song
    • 5/5
      The Queen Mary sinks. Charles Maxim saves a baby floating in a cello case and becomes her guardian.Despite being a single, bookish and rather eccentric man he raises Sophie with love and understanding. She is convinced that her mother is still alive, despite all evidence. When the authorities do an inspection of Charles and Sophie's living arrangement and decide to put Sophie in an orphanage, the two of them leave England and flee to Paris where they intend to look for Sophie's mother. In Paris Sophie meets Matteo, who is an orphan who keeps himself out of the orphanage by living on the roof of the of the Law Court. He introduces Sophie to his small group of friends, other children, staying out of the orphanage, and together they search for Sophie's mother. Meanwhile Charles is trying to find out more about Sophie's mother through more standard means and becomes alarmed when he finds out Sophie is going out at night searching for her mother. But, reassured by her that they, the Rooftoppers and her, are making headway, he supports her in any way he can. A beautiful and surprisingly poetic story. Well worth reading.
    • 5/5
      THIS BOOK IS AMAZING!!!!!!!!! I’ve heard this book at least 10 times and I still love it definitely a good read!!
    • 4/5
      I love Katherine Rundell's writing and Rooftoppers is no exception. Sophie, Charles and Matteo are unique and interesting characters. I like the sincere trust between young Sophie and her guardian, Charles, who always treated her with respect and love. Matteo is tough, as he has to be, living alone on the rooftops of Paris, but he's honest and true to his friends. The opening scene of the shipwreck was a bit confusing; I had to read it a couple of times to understand that baby Sophie and Charles were on the same ship. The plot moved along quickly and I felt invested in the characters, their hopes and dreams.
    • 5/5
      Very exciting tale of a disaster, followed by a loving relationship, followed by an adventure in Paris. This book was strange, exciting, insightful, and full of wonder and magic, but not wizard type magic. Just relationship magic. Excellent. May be a little too much for my fifth graders, some of them, I will recommend it too , definitely, middle school.
    • 4/5
      Katherine has a way of describing that is unparalleled. She gives insight into life with such precision, clarity and humor.

      Such originality and creativity in plot, and setting of how a child would survive on rooftops of a city!

      As I was reading the book aloud, I was able to omit the swearing that was occasionally included.

      The boys and I both enjoyed it.
    • 3/5
      This was a charming, breathtaking, imaginative story that explores the nature of love, what makes a good family, and why adults and authority are so frustrating. It is beautifully written and the characters are believable, even if what they get up to isn't always as plausible.
    • 4/5
      Beautiful prose. A very engaging book for children young and old.
    • 4/5
      Rooftoppers is a book set in Paris in possibly the 19th Century. The book starts off in England where a girl and her foster father live. The setting then transfers over to Paris where she tries to locate her mother. I thought that this book was really sweet, a nice read (especially compared to the other Carnegie books!) that warmed my heart. The writing was excellent and the storyline was great. One thing though was that I was misled to believe by other friends that this book was a romance. However, it is the complete opposite but I still loved it. I’ve read other books about Paris before but none as good as this at new description. Generally, it’s the Eiffel Tower that shows up a lot so it was quite nice to read about the other parts of Paris too! An excellent book overall…
    • 3/5
      Rooftoppers has gotten a lot of buzz, so I thought I would read it. It’s definitely different. There’s really not a time period, but the atmosphere seems to be the late 1800s or early 1900s.Sophie is found in a cello case in the English channel after a ship sinks as a baby. She is rescued and raised by Mr. Charles who is very unusual. He allows her to do just about anything; she just has to be kind. She is rather wild; she wears trousers and rarely cleans herself and does not attend school. The government authorities in London visit for over ten years and finally decide that a single man cannot raise a girl, citing her unladylike behavior and lack of formal education.Sophie believes that she can remember her mother, despite everyone telling her that babies can’t remember. She remembers a mom who wears pants and plays the cello. When she’s told that the authorities are removing her from Mr. Charles’ home, she finds an engraving on the cello case while throwing a temper tantrum. She and Charles decide to follow the clue to Paris and possibly find her mother. Mr. Charles said to never ignore a possible.They sneak away to Paris, knowing if they’re discovered, Mr. Charles will be arrested for not handing Sophie over. Sophie stays in the attic of their hotel and meets Matteo, a rooftopper. He shows her Paris from the rooftops where he lives. It’s a different world that allows Sophie to listen for her mother if she’s still alive.This is a nice book. I didn’t love it and I certainly didn’t dislike it. It was merely fine. I think many people will like it because it is very sweet and a little off-the-wall.
    • 5/5
      When the Queen Mary sinks in the middle of the English Channel, a baby is found floating in a cello case. Eccentric scholar Charles Maxim determines to take in the baby and raise her as his own. Baby Sophie thrives on Charles' haphazard parenting style, but when the authorities disagree and plan on putting Sophie in an orphanage, Sophie and Charles must make one desperate attempt to find the person Sophie most wants to meet in the entire world: her mother. The search will take Sophie to the rooftops of Paris, where she will have many strange adventures -- but will she succeed in the one thing that is most important to her?The writing in this book reminded me a little bit of Noel Streatfeild and a little bit of Roald Dahl, in all the best ways. It's a gentle sort of story, but it's not lacking adventure or humor. It has the quirky, dreamy quality of music and poetry, but it's also grounded in things like skinned knees and sausages cooked over an open fire. This is just the sort of book I would have loved at age eight or nine, and I hope it will find those same enthusiastic readers among today's children.
    • 4/5
      A bit of Peter Pan, a dash of Oliver Twist, and just a hint of Daddy-Long-Legs gives us Rooftoppers. Charles Maxim finds a baby floating in a cello case in the English Channel after the shipwreck of the Queen Mary. He decides she is 1 year old. He, with her help, decides her name is Sophie. And he decides to keep her. The National Childcare Agency is not happy with this arrangement but allow it to go on until Sophie’s 12th birthday. Now, with the looming threat of being separated and Sophie going to an orphanage, she and Charles quickly flee to Paris in search of her mother.Aided by a small band of street urchins, Sophie risks everything to follow the magical music to her true home.
    • 4/5
      Sophie is lost in a shipwreck and rescued by Charles. Charles is a bit of a scatterbrained academic but he and Sophie make it work. But she knows her mother is out there somewhere- and she wants to find her. This book isn't fantasy necessarily but it has a Dahl-like feel of a precocious kid having adventures that are a bit odd to explain.
    • 4/5
      Sophie who survived a shipwreck as a baby was taken in by another survivor who raised her as his own child. The supervising child care agency, however, decides that it is not suitable for a man to be raising a young girl by himself, and wants to move her to foster care. Sophie and her guardian leave for France, searching for information about Sophie's mother. In Paris, Sophie discovers children living on rooftops and in trees - the rooftoppers.