A Book Review of ‘Rooftoppers’ by Katherine Rundell

Hello, all! ^^ How have you been doing this weekend? Did you get any writing done? Or did the thing I’m terrible at doing called taking a break for the weekend (in which case, kudos and congrats to you)? Or perhaps you went on a road trip with your family to visit distant relatives?

I’ve been mainly trying to figure out Island Keepers (restarted it for the 101st time….), and no doubt Izzy, Fuzzy Bee, and Charlotte have been growing very tired of my endless, WHY WHY WHY’s. Autumn has been ever so lovely here! Honestly, it feels a bit more like spring, with the sun and blue sky and flowers, but a few trees are turning yellow and gold (eee I cannot wait for all of them to!)

But at any rate, it is now Monday. And if you have lurked around on my blog long enough, then you know what that means — another middle-grade book review! ^^ Reviews are so much fun to write, because it’s usually when I try and convince people to read some fantastic, heartwarming, wonderful middle-grade books.

This book is no different, and the book is Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell!

The blurb reads: Embrace possibility in this luminous novel 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, 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?

I adored this story, and I think lots of other people will too! It has a lot of things I love in it — a quest, an ‘orphan’ MC, music, and also Paris! I have always wanted to go to Paris, so it was amazing to see Paris as a really important setting in this book! The story is just so heartwarming, and everyone should read it!

Sophie’s character really felt so real, and I related to her so much. (Being tall, awkward, and bookish? …Yeah, that’s kind of me…) She felt like a real person in this book, and I was always looking forward to seeing what she would do next! Her character growth is just so beautiful to read about! Meanwhile, Matteo is very different from Sophie, and I loved his character as well! I think his character is very much how you’d expect a rooftopper to be — daring, stubborn, wary, and more. I also really loved Sophie’s guardian, Charles, who is so much fun to read about, and he always brought a smile to my face!

I adored the setting of this book as well! As I’ve said, it takes place in Paris, and Paris is one of the places I’ve always wanted to go! While this book is historical fiction and takes place in the past (hence the Paris in this book being quite different from the Paris today) it was interesting getting to see what Paris was like during this time. The world was so detailed and carefully crafted, and I felt like I was right there with Sophie through all of her adventures!

The writing style of this book was amazing as well! It honestly feels very much like the writing style of a lot of MG books in the 2010s (which makes sense, seeing as this book was published in 2013 — over ten years ago!), which is a writing style I adore.

The plot and story itself was fabulous! I think it’s a very character driven book — very heartwarming, very beautiful, and I absolutely loved the ending, which made me smile with happy tears in my eyes! The pacing never felt slow, and I just wanted to sink into this world and read it for hours on end without the story ever ending. I was quite sad when it did end, actually, even though it was the perfect ending. I kid you not, I turned to the last page, blinked, and then cried out, “IT’S OVER?!”

Overall, this was a fantastic, beautiful, heartwarming, amazing, wonderful, bringing-you-to-near-tears middle-grade book that everyone should read! Middle-graders, teens, and adults alike will all enjoy this story, and I give it six stars out of five! (A rating reserved for the rarest of books…) Definitely going to re-read this over and over and over again! This is definitely the perfect book to curl up with on a rainy afternoon!

Thoughts from Izzy, Charlotte, and Fuzzy Bee:

Izzy: Fantastic book! Most certainly a tear-jerker. (grumbles and attempts to hide a hankie soaked with tears) The only thing I didn’t like was the lack of pandas. Me: Izzy, this is Paris in the late 1800s/early 1900s!!! Why would there be– Izzy: PANDAS NEED REPRESENTATION! Me: (shakes head) Never mind.

Charlotte: (also quickly hides hankie soaked with tears) Lovely book. I liked it. Must re-read. (yanks copy out of my hands to keep for herself)

Fuzzy Bee: (dabs at eyes) This book is beautiful!! What else is there to share?? I simply must share this book with the rest of the hive!!

About the Author:

Katherine Rundell is a multi-million-bestselling author whose novels for children have won the Waterstones Book of the Year, the Blue Peter Book Award and the Costa Children’s Book Award, among many others. In 2024 she was named the British Book Awards Author of the Year, and Impossible Creatures won the Children’s Fiction Book of the Year. She is a Fellow of St Catherine’s College, Oxford, and her books for adults include Super-Infinite, winner of the Baillie Gifford Prize. Very occasionally she goes climbing across the rooftops of Oxford, late at night.

Thanks so much for coming, and I hope you’ll check out this book! ^^ I also hope you liked hearing Izzy, Charlotte, and Fuzzy Bee’s thoughts (let me know in the comments if you like — or dislike — this new change of having Izzy, Charlotte, and Fuzzy Bee comment in book reviews!) And if you liked this book review, don’t forget to check out Marvelous Middle Grade Monday, where Greg Pattridge and a bunch of other amazing book bloggers come together every Monday to share MG book reviews, interviews, and more!

Here’s to a cozy week ahead! Till Friday,

-Isabelle