Rooftoppers

Sophie is a shipwreck survivor, found floating in a cello case in the English Channel. With no clue other than the case, she and her unorthodox guardian set out to find Sophie's mother, who is presumed dead. Employing believable accents and creating engaging characterizations, Nicola Barber takes listeners on a linguistic flight of fancy that moves from staid England to the dreamlike but treacherous rooftops of Paris. There Sophie enlists the help of Matteo, a young scamp, and his ragtag band of homeless "rooftoppers." Barber transitions seamlessly from Sophie's earnest, determined tone and English accent to the polite discourse of her guardian and the unrefined yet cosmopolitan French spoken by the rooftoppers. L.T. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine

Starred review from July 29, 2013
A baby found floating in a cello case in the English Channel, and Charles Maxim, a scholar and fellow survivor of a mysterious shipwreck, become an unconventional family, guided by the philosophy that “You should never ignore a possible.” Permissive but caring, Charles lets the baby, whom he names Sophie, write on walls, eat off books, climb things, and indulge in “mother-watching” as the years pass, until unwanted attention from the National Childcare Agency sends them in search of Sophie’s cello-playing mother. In Paris, 12-year-old Sophie takes to the rooftops, guided by irrepressible roof-dweller Matteo, an orphanage escapee who literally shows her the ropes; in one breathtaking scene, he walks her on a tightrope between buildings (“Grip with your toes. Left. Stop. Do not look down”). Eccentric, tactile food imagery appears throughout, from Charles’s pork pie served on the Bible to Matteo’s fresh-cooked rat. While the children’s uncanny survival skills take occasionally graphic turns, as in a brutal fight between rooftopper tribes, the beauty of sky, music, and the belief in “extraordinary things” triumph in this whimsical and magical tale. Ages 8–12. Agent: Claire Wilson, Rogers, Coleridge & White.