Up Above the City

This is an author who always offers the reader something different, her books are difficult to define, or to describe without giving away spoilers, and her latest is no exception. While definitely a gripping adventure, it has elements of sci-fi and an important and thought-provoking slice of social realism. Jake, the likeable central protagonist, is not having the best school holiday. Not only are his parents on the verge of splitting up, he has to spend his days in the staff room of the London City bank where his mother works. A keen photographer, he occupies himself with taking pictures and thinks he has spotted a mysterious girl in the building opposite. Realising that it’s an optical illusion and actually a reflection of the attic in his own building, he is determined to track down the girl despite being told it is just an empty storeroom. When he does manage to make contact with her, he discovers a whole hidden world in the upper storeys of these city buildings. Laine and her scientist father are fugitives brought into the country illegally and now on the run not only from the authorities in Estonia, after his mind-boggling invention is sought for the wrong reasons, but also from the human trafficking gang who think they can also benefit from this. Poor Jake just wants to help and to do the right thing. He keeps secrets and makes reckless decisions all from the best of motives. He was horrified to discover the numbers of homeless and refugee families also hiding in what he calls the Up Above and when Laine’s father goes missing, the need to help her becomes even more urgent and their quest reveals to Jake the way that society seems perfectly happy to be oblivious to the needs of these ‘invisible’ people and how these can be exploited by ruthless criminals. It is a fascinating idea to draw parallels between scientific invisibility and the ‘invisibility’ of the forgotten poor and needy. For me, it was a tricky juxtaposition between the very relatable family issues and the authentic descriptions of the surface world and the more fantastical elements. I found it somewhat difficult to follow and entirely believe the journeys they took in the Up Above or the Underbelly, the underground lair of the gang where the imprisoned scientist was being kept, or to be entirely convinced by how the invention worked and how they were able to escape the clutches of the gang. However, younger readers will no doubt be swept along by the pace and the thrills of their perilous situation. It is certainly a highly original way to bring a different viewpoint and perspective on displaced persons, to counter the narrative children may hear on the news or more generally in our current society and well worth trying.