Book Review: I am the Messenger

 

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Zusak, Markus. 2002. I AM THE MESSENGER. New York, NY. Knopf Books for Young Readers. ISBN: 0375830995

2.    PLOT SUMMARY

This story takes place in Australia where we meet a character named Ed Kennedy. Ed is 19 years old and has a life that is going nowhere fast. Until one day, Ed finds himself caught in a bank robbery and ends up saving the day by catching the robber. After that incident, Ed starts receiving mysterious cards that lead him to addresses of people that he is supposed to help. The tasks that he has to take on seem daunting and impossible at times, but Ed is forced to complete the jobs. Will Ed be able to solve all of the problems that he comes across?

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Markus Zusak has created a realistic story of a “lost” teenager who is lacking motivation in life. The protagonist main character Ed, has no drive in life and no desire to change anything about it. Ed is a very real character and older readers can easily relate to him. Throughout the story, Ed learns that there is more to life and starts to see the purpose of his life through the various jobs he is assigned. The story is a bit slow at the start but once Ed starts receiving mysterious cards in the mail it really starts to picks up. The reader will face growing excitement with each card and the problems and solutions are creative and not always expected.

The setting of this story takes place in a foreign country, Australia. Zusak’s lingo and vocabulary can sometimes be hard to read and understand from an American standpoint, but they are true to the setting and allowed the reader to step into the book. Zusak also piques the reader’s interest by cleverly naming the chapters after the playing cards and discreetly slipping clues into the chapter titles. For example in chapter 3 of diamonds, the chapter title is called the ace of diamonds. In this chapter, the reader learns that Ed received the ace of diamonds in the mail and what he will do with it. The chapters are reasonably short and split up the story nicely, which helps the reader easily stay on track with what is going on in the story.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

Winner 2006 Texas TAYSHAS High School Reading List

Winner 2006 ALA Best Books for Young Adults

Honor 2006 Michael L. Printz Honor Book

SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: Grade 9 Up - Nineteen-year-old cabbie Ed Kennedy has little in life to be proud of: his dad died of alcoholism, and he and his mom have few prospects for success. He has little to do except share a run-down apartment with his faithful yet smelly dog, drive his taxi, and play cards and drink with his amiable yet similarly washed-up friends. Then, after he stops a bank robbery, Ed begins receiving anonymous messages marked in code on playing cards in the mail, and almost immediately his life begins to swerve off its beaten-down path. Usually the messages instruct him to be at a certain address at a certain time. So with nothing to lose, Ed embarks on a series of missions as random as a toss of dice: sometimes daredevil, sometimes heartwarmingly safe. He rescues a woman from nightly rape by her husband. He brings a congregation to an abandoned parish. The ease with which he achieves results vacillates between facile and dangerous, and Ed's search for meaning drives him to complete every task. But the true driving force behind the novel itself is readers' knowledge that behind every turn looms the unknown presence - either good or evil - of the person or persons sending the messages. Zusak's characters, styling, and conversations are believably unpretentious, well conceived, and appropriately raw. Together, these key elements fuse into an enigmatically dark, almost film-noir atmosphere where unknowingly lost Ed Kennedy stumbles onto a mystery - or series of mysteries - that could very well make or break his life.

BOOKLIST Starred Review: Gr. 9-12. Ed is a 19-year-old loser only marginally connected to the world; he's the son that not even his mother loves. But his life begins to change after he acts heroically during a robbery. Perhaps it's the notoriety he receives that leads to his receiving playing cards in the mail. Ed instinctively understands that the scrawled words on the aces are clues to be followed, which lead him to people he will help (including some he'll have to hurt first). But as much as he changes those who come into his life, he changes himself more. Two particular elements will keep readers enthralled: the panoply of characters who stream in and out of the story, and the mystery of the person sending Ed on the life-altering missions. Concerning the former, Zusak succeeds brilliantly. Ed's voice is assured and unmistakable, and other characters, although seen through Ed's eyes, are realistically and memorably evoked (readers will almost smell Ed's odoriferous dog when it ambles across the pages). As for the ending, however, Zusak is too clever by half. He offers too few nuts-and-bolts details before wrapping things up with an unexpected, somewhat unsatisfying recasting of the narrative. Happily, that doesn't diminish the life-affirming intricacies that come before.

5. CONNECTIONS

***Recommended for students ages 17 and up.

***Start a secret helper club in your classroom. Pass out a secret envelope to a student each day where they have to help someone out in the classroom without letting them know they are the “secret helper”. The envelope can be returned to the teacher when the secret task is complete, then the teacher can continue to pass it around to the other students.

***Other books by Markus Zusak

Zusak, Markus. THE BOOK THIEF. ISBN: 9780375842207

Zusak, Markus. UNDERDOGS. ISBN: 9780545354424

Zusak, Markus. GETTING THE GIRL. ISBN: 9780439389501

***For a teacher guide about this book check out http://www.randomhouse.com/book/196151/i-am-the-messenger-by-markus-zusak#reader%27sguide