Rooftoppers

by Katherine Rundell

Paperback, 2013

Status

Available

Call number

823.92

Genres

Children's Books

All Topics

Fiction

Collection

Your library

Publication

Faber Children's Books (2013), Edition: Main

Description

When authorities threaten to take Sophie, twelve, from Charles who has been her guardian since she was one and both survived a shipwreck, the pair goes to Paris to try to find Sophie's mother, and they are aided by Matteo and his band of "rooftoppers."

User reviews

LibraryThing member foggidawn

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.

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13 more

LibraryThing member lilibrarian

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.

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LibraryThing member Brainannex

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.

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LibraryThing member retropelocin

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.

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LibraryThing member acargile

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.

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LibraryThing member mroque

Summary: At a young age, Sophie was separated from her mother in a shipwreck accident at a very young age. Her current guardian, Charles tells her that it will be impossible to find her mother because she's gone. This doesn't stop her from trying and she sets out on a journey to find her mother.

She meets Mateo and some of his gang and they agree to help her find what she was told is gone. When Sophie was found after the accident, she was in a cello case, so they go find the maker of the cello looking for clues as to where her mother could be. With the help of the rooftoppers, she battles her hopes in order to find something she feels is with her.
Genre: Historical Fiction although I noticed it could also be fantasy.
Review: I read this book originally because it was one of my choices for the partner books and I ended up reading another book. I remembered that this was something I really wanted to read and I'm glad I did. It was magical and enchanting. I really enjoyed that the hero was a twelve-year-old girl who is brave and strong. I thought the setting was so fitting and gave the book a lot of charm, seeing as it was in Paris. This book would be really great in the classroom to do a character analysis activity. The characters all have very different yet vibrant personalities so it would be good to look in depth at each character individually. All in all, this is a fantastic story about never losing faith no matter what the circumstances.

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LibraryThing member otterley

Or how Sophie travels across the roofs of Paris to find her mother, long lost at sea. Sophie, rescued from a cello case by benevolent intellectual eccentric Charles, and hounded out of the country by tedious bureaucrats, is a girl with extraordinary hair, a loving nature and a gift for adventure.

Meeting Matteo, she embarks with a crew of aerial misfits - Paris's answer to the lost boys? - in search of a long forgotten music that means home and mother. The book is fantastical and awash with language and image - enough to conjure imaginary worlds and bring the reader safe home again.

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LibraryThing member KatherineB729

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…

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LibraryThing member Breton07

"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

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LibraryThing member klarsenmd

Beautiful prose. A very engaging book for children young and old.

LibraryThing member missizicks

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.

LibraryThing member Sonya.Contreras

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.

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LibraryThing member mcorbink

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.

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LibraryThing member bookwren

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.

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