Parents' Guide to

Rooftoppers

By Darienne Stewart, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 8+

Soaring, quirky adventure has unforgettable characters.

Book Katherine Rundell Adventure 2013
Rooftoppers Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this book.

Community Reviews

See all
age 9+

Based on 1 parent review

Harry J.
Harry J. Parent
March 18, 2018
age 9+

Great book that makes the reader want to take more risks.

Young girl and her scholarly adopted adult go to Paris to track down her long lost mother. She escapes onto rooftops, jumps across perilous gaps, stays up toil the early hours with the homeless, swims in ths Seine to pick up tourists cash. And all the while is quietly supported by her admirably (crazily?) liberal adult - Charles. Makes you want to take more risks.
See all 1 parent review

What's the Story?

After a ship sinks in the English Channel, bookish bachelor Charles Maxim finds the last survivor: a 1-year-old girl floating in a cello case. He names her Sophie and brings her to his London home to raise her with love and plenty of Shakespeare. Miss Eliot of the National Childcare Agency visits weekly and is horrified by Sophie's tangled hair, boys' trousers, and meals served on books (Sophie tends to break plates). When Sophie is 12, she's to be sent to an orphanage. So Charles and Sophie follow a clue to hunt for her mother in Paris. Menaced by police, Sophie takes to the rooftops and encounters a secret and dangerous world where children live proudly and ably on their own, high above the pavement.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (1 ):
Kids say (1 ):

ROOFTOPPERS is a captivating read packed with tiny delights. There's an astonishing scene wherein birds are fed atop a tightrope, Charles' dismissal of bureaucrats as "mustaches with idiots attached," ice cream enjoyed in the rain on the outside box of a horse-drawn carriage -- and that's just for starters. Author Katherine Rundell celebrates eccentric, resilient people who are happy to live on the margins of respectable society. Unorthodox people, of course, have unorthodox adventures, and Sophie's is a magical journey.

Rundell's writing is lyrical and clever -- sometimes a little too clever, as the creative metaphors and similes pile up to the point of distraction. But that's just a tiny quibble with this imaginative, soaring tale.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the rooftoppers' means of survival: They trespass, steal, and fight with weapons. Also, Sophie and Charles intentionally break the law. Are they justified?
  • Rooftoppers, like many kids' novels, features a child searching for her parent. Can you think of other stories of abandoned children you've read or seen in movies?

  • Could this tale, which begins in the 1890s, take place in the modern era? How would modern technology change the story?

Book Details

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Related Topics

Want suggestions based on your streaming services? Get personalized recommendations

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

See how we rate