Katherine Rundell, Rooftoppers

From the beginning, Rooftoppers is a mix of strange humour, adventure and changing emotions. It opens when baby Sophie is found floating in the sea in a cello case: she is wrapped in a piece of Beethoven music and is wearing a red ‘1’ birthday rosette. She is rescued by Charles Maxim, a fellow passenger, who loves books (especially Shakespeare) and is a very kind man, but, it seems, has very little idea how to look after children. Because Sophie was so young when the ship sank, nobody believes her when she insists she can remember her mother.

Charles and Sophie are regularly visited by a bossy inspector from the National Childcare Agency who is always telling Sophie and Charles what they are doing wrong. But Charles and Sophie don’t take any notice: Charles just loves Sophie and lets her be herself. When she is 9, she discovers she loves to hear the cello play and Charles buys her one to learn. It is too big to play in her bedroom so, of course, he lets her play it on the roof. Charles teaches Sophie to follow her dreams and ‘never to ignore the possible’—even if the possible is very unlikely.

Sophie’s life changes dramatically at the age of 12 when Charles is told he is unfit to look after her and she is to be sent to an orphanage. If he refuses, he will be sent to jail. Broken-hearted, they decide they cannot let this happen. Together, they escape to Paris and set off on an amazing adventure to try to solve the mystery of Sophie’s mother…