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Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell


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Synopsis: (from amazon.co.uk)

My mother is still alive, and she is going to come for me one day.

 

Everyone thinks that Sophie is an orphan. True, there were no other recorded female survivors from the shipwreck which 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 that means still possible. 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 sky. Together they scour the city for Sophie's mother before she is caught and sent back to London, and most importantly before she loses hope.

 

Review:

This book was was the overall winner of the Waterstone's Children's Book Prize this year (shortlisted in the Fiction 5-12 category).

 

A modern take on a classic quest story, starting with the rescue of Sophie as a baby from the sinking of a passenger ship, found floating in a cello case.  The man who takes guardianship of her raises her in an unique and eccentric manner, with Sophie becoming an intelligent and independent girl.  Their journey to Paris in search of her mother is just the start of the adventure, and Sophie soon meets Matteo who lives on the rooftops of Paris, and who helps in her hunt for her missing parent.

 

While this is very much a modern day story, it also has a timeless quality to it and is beautifully written, and very deserving of the praise and prizes it has won so far.  I won't to give anything away about the ending, but I thought it was written superbly, with a brevity and heart, without being overly sentimental or schmalzy.

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