Up Above the City

About this book

It’s the Christmas holidays and Jake should really be in the Holiday Club at school... but he got thrown out. So he’s at work with his mum: bored and lonely in the staff room on the top floor. 

For a couple of days, he’s watched a girl in the building opposite who looks just as fed up as he is, but he can’t attract her attention. Once he realises he’s looking at a reflection, and the girl is actually in an attic above his head, Jake can barely contain his excitement.  

In the attic he meets Laine, whose father is missing - possibly because of his top-secret invention. Suddenly, the holidays seem much more exciting as Jake and Laine search through the rooftops of London. But what they find is more dangerous and upsetting than they could have imagined. 

This strange and eerie story, with some semi-fantastical elements, explores a hidden world of refugees, homelessness, and the murky world of human trafficking. 

Dealing with the varied and complex reasons behind the marginalisation and vulnerability of some communities, this is a revealing look at the ‘invisible’ people in society and the injustice and trauma they can suffer.