Rooftoppers cover art

Rooftoppers

From the author of the internationally bestselling phenomenon Impossible Creatures

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Rooftoppers

By: Katherine Rundell
Narrated by: Tamsin Greig
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Summary
Bloomsbury presents Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell, read by Tamsin Greig.

CELEBRATING 10 HIGH-FLYING YEARS OF THE MULTI-AWARD-WINNING MODERN CLASSIC, FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE EXPLORER
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Winner of the Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize and the Blue Peter Book Award
Shortlisted for the CILIP Carnegie Medal
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A brilliant new edition to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Katherine Rundell’s modern classic tale of wild hope and thrilling adventure on the rooftops of Paris. This limited edition features the celebratory cover roundel and an extra letter from Katherine Rundell.
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'I enjoyed it tremendously ... The next time I go to Paris I will be looking up at the rooftops' – Jacqueline Wilson

Everyone tells Sophie that she was orphaned in a shipwreck – found floating in a cello case on the English Channel on her first birthday. But Sophie is convinced her mother also survived.

When the Welfare Agency threatens to separate her from her guardian and send her to an orphanage, Sophie takes matters into her own hands, starting with the only clue she has – the address of a cello-maker in Paris. On the run from the authorities, Sophie finds Matteo and his network of rooftoppers – urchins who walk tightropes and live in the sky. In a race across the rooftops of Paris, will they be able to find her mother before it's too late?

Hopeful, inspiring and thrilling in equal measure, this is a classic adventure story about pursuing your dreams and never ignoring a possible.

'A writer with an utterly distinctive voice and a wild imagination' – Philip Pullman©2013 Katherine Rundell (P)2023 Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Action & Adventure Growing Up Growing Up & Facts of Life Literature & Fiction Mysteries Mystery & Suspense Friendship Fiction Exciting Funny Adventure
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Critic reviews

I enjoyed it tremendously … An ultra stylish writer with a true gift for imaginative storytelling. The next time I go to Paris I will be looking up at the rooftops
A rare and remarkable treat, witty and full of original thoughts … This quirky book advocates curiosity, thoughtfulness, freedom and courage
A writer with an utterly distinctive voice and a wild imagination
Whimsical, beautifully written and as carefully balanced as the tightrope Sophie learns to walk, Rooftoppers is a sensitive and emotionally resonant novel with an uplifting message about the power of hope
Rundell is an astonishing young talent and her books combine old-fashioned, edge-of-your-seat adventure with richly imagined characters … Read everything she writes
Katherine Rundell might be the cleverest children’s writer working today ... [Rooftoppers] draws on Rundell’s own experiences of scaling the dreaming spires of Oxford, and does so with whimsicality, wit and a thrilling sense of adventure
[a] children’s book that wipes the floor with most adult novels
All stars
Most relevant
we love listening to audio books on a long car journey- this kept our whole family hooked the whole time - we didn't want it to end! Adventure, emotion, friendship and humour. A wonderful story another great book by Catherine Rundell.

breathtaking story

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This is a beautifully written, highly original story. I loved it as an adult, and I would have more than loved it as a child. I thoroughly recommend this to basically ANYONE.

Modern classic

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Sophie was such a nice kind girl going mother hunting for her mother Vivien they escape to France and sophie meets a boy called mate who is a rooftoper

It was so good and exiting!!!!!

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“ love it!!” Amazing voice and even better story! Couldn’t find any thing to criticise at all!

Best book ever!!!😃

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I like the twist where the boy actually lives on top of the roofs So cool

That it was interesting

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