Book Review: I Am the Messenger
I Am the Messenger
by Markus Zusak
(Knopf, 2002)
I was given this book by a fellow teacher after I raved about Zusak's The Book Thief. I'm thrilled to say I loved this book, too, so much so that I've decided to give a Book Talk on I Am the Messenger at our school's upcoming Teen Read Week. The hook for this book is irresistible. Our hero is a 19 -year old a taxi driver named Ed Kennedy who accidently foils a bank robbery. He then starts to receive playing cards with cryptic messages in the mail. As he deciphers the clues to each message, he finds himself becoming embroiled in the lives of strangers, friends, and family in sometimes rewarding and sometimes frightening new ways. This book is dark and funny and captures the restlessness of youth. Zusak does a brilliant job of making Ed 's slides between moments of utter grace and wisdom and moments of complete cluelessness so believable that I couldn't help but turn the last page with sadness. I did not want to say good-bye -- and that's the sign of a Good Book.
Here's a passage that will hopefully get you reading this book:
"In a way, Sophie's dad reminds me of my own father, except my own father never put his arm around me. Not to mention he was an alcoholic. It's in his mannerisms and his quietness. My own father was a quiet man who never had a bad word for anyone. He'd go to the pub and stay there till closing. He'd walk the streets to sober up and make it to work the next day without fail. My ma would rant and rave and scream abuse at him for being out, but he never reacted. He never told her off in return.
Sophie's father looks the same, except for the alcoholic part. In short, he looks like a gentleman."