Elena Reviews: Rooftoppers By Katherine Rundell

Title: Rooftoppers

Author: Katherine Rundell

Publication Date: March 7th, 2013

Genres: Middle Grade, Historical Fiction

Everyone thinks that Sophie is an orphan. True, there were no other recorded female survivors from the shipwreck which 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 that means still possible. 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 sky. Together they scour the city for Sophie's mother before she is caught and sent back to London, and most importantly before she loses hope.

I want to start this review by admitting that, I did not expect to love Rooftoppers, or even enjoy it, as much as I did! Mainly because I discovered it completely by accident while trying to decide which books to add in my Book Depository basket and actually checkout with. And it was staring at me from the recommended little thing at the bottom of the page so, I just went with it. I was so into the story and the fell in love with the characters from the very first page and once I started reading, I could not stop! I'm not going to go into any details concerning the plot because I feel like you'd better go into this with an open heart and without really knowing anything about the story itself beforehand. That's exactly what I did and I couldn't have been happier about it. From the very first chapter, I could tell that this book was going to be very special. It might be categorized as a children's book but, we call definitely all learn something from it! The characters themselves are beautifully written and their journey is more than fascinating! Reading about them and their adventures was an amazing experience and I just about cried during some parts of it! The images created were so magical and vivid that, it felt like I was actually there, living everything along with the characters. This was one of the best written books I've ever read and I think that's what made it even more special! The writing itself was pure magic and made it so much easier to travel through the pages and become one with the story and its characters! I seriously just fell in love with the writing and will probably never stop talking about it! Katherine Rundell is definitely one of the most talented writers and I cannot wait to read more of her work because I'm truly hooked and impressed by it! Overall, I cannot recommend Rooftoppers enough! Reading it was definitely an eye opening experience for me because it made me realize - for the hundredth time - that you can achieve whatever you want in life, if you chase after it and risk everything to make it yours! I hope you found this review helpful, even if it wasn't that informative as to what the book was about. Not revealing the smallest detail that would give away anything was my intention from the beginning so, I hope you give this one a chance without looking too much into it! Believe me, you won't be disappointed!