Up Above the City – at a glance
The School Reading Lists’ five word review: Christmas, friendship, secrets, homelessness, refugees.
Children’s book title: Up Above the City.
Children’s author: Clare Weze.
Genre: Children’s fiction.
Published by: Knights Of.
ISBN: 9781915820082.
Recommended for children aged: 8+.
First published: Paperback October 2025.
This children’s book is ideal for: initiating discussion about the plight of refugees and people experiencing homelessness – while enjoying an exciting adventure story.
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Our review:
Jake’s Christmas break isn’t going to plan. Thrown out of his school’s holiday club after a misunderstanding, he has to go to work with his mum at a bank and spend his days in the break room. When he sees a young girl living in a disused bank storeroom, they strike up a friendship and he discovers Laine is worried about her scientist father, who has disappeared.
Determined to help all he can, Jake gets food and drinks for his new friend, but when she tells him why she is so worried, everything changes. Laine’s father has broken the law and they are on the run from the Estonian police and the illegal organisation that got them out of the country, and which now wants access to his latest discovery. Jake doesn’t quite believe what he’s seeing, but when Laine takes a small pill she becomes invisible!
Their hunt takes them through the attics of the financial buildings where Jake’s mum works, and he is horrified to find them inhabited by homeless and refugee families. With Laine’s father still missing, and Jake’s mum expecting him to be ready to leave with her every afternoon, he finds himself searching the passageways more than once and, as the danger increases, he too takes a risk and becomes invisible. When Laine is taken, Jake knows it’s up to him to make everything right and, even though he’s sworn to secrecy, knows he has to get the help of everyone living in the various secret spaces if he is to find his friend. Those who want the power invisibility will bring are ruthless, however, and they are determined to thwart him.
Our verdict:
Jake doesn’t want to spend his holidays at his mother’s workplace, but has no other choice. His parents have just separated and his dad is moving to Sheffield. Meeting Laine helps, but things are about to become fraught with danger for him and his new friend. The relationship between Jake and Laine works well: she is scared and wary, while he is a quiet boy who’d much rather be at home but knows he has to do as he’s told.
The inclusion of refugees and homeless families helps Jake and the readers see another side to these groups than the one usually seen on TV. As he travels through the passageways, Jake begins to realise how desperate the inhabitants of the rooftops are, and how easily they can be manipulated. His experiences add a realism to the storyline and also show there is no quick fix for their awful living conditions.
The invisibility pill is an interesting concept, especially as there is no magic involved, and a continuing message about not taking untested medication is included from the first time Laine mentions the subject. There is a satisfying conclusion to this story, which moves it on from Christmas to Easter, and although not everything is sorted, there is progress in all the areas the book covers. This should make it an enjoyable reading experience for those in the suggested age range.
Teaching points and book club discussion ideas:
- Jake is anxious about how things will change when his dad moves. How do the families in the rooftops help him put things into perspective?
- Taking anything medicinal which hasn’t been tested and prescribed can be very dangerous. How does Laine’s dad try to keep her safe when he knows she has to become invisible?
- If you were going to promote a pill which could make you disappear, how would you go about it? What side effects did Jake and Laine suffer? Would you mention them?
- Because of what happens, Gregore changes his whole career. Do you think he will be a better councillor than he was a banker?
- If your best friend told you this was happening to them, would you believe the story and help, or would you pretend you were very busy?
- Jake wouldn’t have been able to rescue Laine and her dad without Caleb and Gregore. Do you understand why Laine was upset until Jake explained everything?
Many thanks to Knights Of for the review copy.
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