Set: Rooftoppers / The Explorer / The Good Thieves / Skysteppers

by Katherine Rundell

Set: Rooftoppers / The Explorer / The Good Thieves / Skysteppers

Genres: Childrens

Paperback

Published January 1, 2021

About the author

Katherine Rundell was born in 1987 and grew up in Africa and Europe. In 2008 she was elected a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. Her first book, The Girl Savage, was born of her love of Zimbabwe and her own childhood there; her second, Rooftoppers, was inspired by summers working in Paris and by night-time trespassing on the rooftops of All Souls. She is currently working on her doctorate alongside an adult novel.

Source: Katherine Rundell

Reviews

[Susan Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

I only read the Rooftoppers. I didn't realize that the story was a compilation of stories.

This book focuses on Sofie. Sofie is an orphan that is adopted by Charles a well to do single man. When Sofie was a baby they found her in a cello case and it remains the clue that brings Sofie and her mother together again.

As Charles and Sofie travel to Paris to find clues as to who Sofie's mother might have been. Sofie finds friends that live and travel the rooftops of Paris. Matteo teaches Sofie how to move among the buildings at night and be brave enough to enter the window of the records office to search for clues.

It's the haunting sound of the cello played in double time the drifts across the expanse of buildings that brings together a family separated by a disaster so many years ago.

I listened to this book on audio and found the voice of the reader is what really drew me into the story. As she went from British accent to French with each character change.

[Ros · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Rooftoppers was recommended as a book to learn how to use the main character to drive the story forward. I was not disappointed. The story moves at a good pace. I was never waiting for something to happen every scene moves you through the story effortlessly.

Determined to find her mother, we are drawn into Sophie's world, where anything is possible. The friends and challenges she meets along the way and how she deals with them are admirable. She is fearless but kind, tenacious but sensitive to other people’s circumstances. This is shown throughout the book. I loved the line when Sophie and her friends have a skirmish with some rough boys, and she jumps in at the risk of her safety to protect her friends and warns, "do not to mess with a mother-hunter".

This book has something for everyone, both boys and girls, including adults - it shows us that children can be much more resilient than adults give them credit for.

[Diana Mullins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful images and a heartwarming story of finding goodness in the world.