Rooftoppers

Go on an adventure with Katherine Rundell .

Winner of the Waterstones Children's Book Prize | Winner of the Blue Peter Book Award
Shortlisted for the CILIP Carnegie Medal | From the winner of the Costa Children's Book Prize

'A writer with an utterly distinctive voice and a wild imagination' - Philip Pullman
'Read everything she writes' - Daily Mail

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.


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, Jacqueline Wilson

A rare and remarkable treat, witty and full of original thoughts . This quirky book advocates curiosity, thoughtfulness, freedom and courage, Sunday Times

A writer with an utterly distinctive voice and a wild imagination, Philip Pullman

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, BookTrust

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, Daily Mail