Exquisite writing and voicing by author Katherine Rundell is what makes Rooftoppers truly soar.  The writing makes the reader drink in the night Paris air and feel the slate roofs underfoot.  The question about this novel is as follows:  “Is this the type of children’s book that adults love and think children should love?  Or, is it a book that children will actually love?”  Frankly, children aren’t literary critics and don’t particularly care how good or bad (look at a few of those New York Times Best Seller books) the writing is.  Rooftoppers is a straightforward story without magical elements, mythical creatures, and modern dialogue.  Yet it does have this adventurous feel with a tenacious heroine possessing true grit, an unconventional guardian, and a mysterious, tough, street-wise (or should we say roof-wise) young man.  Beautiful illustrations also compliment the opening of each chapter.  At times, it brought The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke to mind.  There is so much here to love and I hope the answer to the question is, “Yes, there are children who still love this type of book.” 

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language:  10 religious exclamations; 5 mild obscenities.

Violence/Gore:  General report of deaths in a disaster; character scrapes knee, bleeds; animal is shot for eating; generic reference to past injuries and evidence with scars; report that someone cut someone else; report of a past fight with severe injuries such as loss of fingertip, loss of hand, severe cut in stomach; characters sustain scrapes and cuts (with mention of blood) while climbing; extend fight scene (~2 pages) between two gangs of children with some description involving knives/pipes/sharp bones/chimney pots, kicking in the crotch, hitting, etc. resulting in injuries and unconsciousness.

Sex/Nudity:  Character undresses to bathe.

Mature Subject Matter:

Homelessness, poverty, orphans.

Alcohol / Drug Use:

Adult drinks whiskey; child drinks whiskey once.