I Am The Messenger

I Am the Messenger was originally published in Australia, where it received the Children’s Book Council of Australia’s Book Award in 2003. When the novel was subsequently published in the United States in 2005, it was listed as a Michael L. Printz Honor Book. Markus Zusak received several starred reviews for I Am the Messenger. Positive reviews focus mainly on Zusak’s successful development of a sympathetic character as he struggles to become a stronger person. School Library Journal calls the story a “tender and expansive novel,” and Teenreads.com says it “breaks your heart.” As a character, Ed is both powerful and vulnerable, and many readers would certainly see aspects of themselves in him. Several critics comment positively on Zusak’s use
of language in the novel. For example, Terry Miller Shannon of Teenreads.com writes, “Markus Zusak has a fine, whimsical way with words.” She goes on to cite several examples of strong alliteration in the book. Perhaps more importantly, Zusak uses short, powerful sentences. He often places short sentences or important fragments on their own lines. This gives his writing a quality that is both spare and poetic. It highlights the simplicity of Ed’s feelings and gives readers time to linger over them. The ending of I Am the Messenger is a deus ex machina. Instead of answering the novel’s big question according to the rules of its world, Zusak brings in an all-powerful outside force. This choice attracts a fair amount of negative criticism. The Horn Book Magazine calls the ending “too clever and ultimately confusing,” whereas Kirkus Reviews says it is “unlikely, even gimmicky.” Once the reader finds out that a mysterious, godlike author created Ed’s challenges, those challenges lose interest in retrospect. There is no limit to how much the author can know about Ed, so it is not remarkable that he knew so much. He could have chosen to communicate with Ed through any means imaginable, so his choice of playing cards seems heavy-handed rather than clever. As Kirkus Reviews notes, readers “who like to speculate about the nature of fiction” might like Zusak’s ending. Ed’s conversations with the unnamed author make interesting points about the lives of fictional characters, as do his experiences with Audrey at the end. These moments certainly provide food for thought about fiction and writing. However, because the rest of the book develops a different set of themes, some readers may feel that these final additions feel extraneous and undevelopedI Am The Messenger is by Markus Zusak (who wrote The Book Thief), and is probably suitable for girls and boys, 14 and up. Ed Kennedy is pretty much your average 19 year old.
His life pretty much revolves around underage cab driving, playing cards, his coffee drinking dog, and just generally being hopelessly in love with his best friend,
Audrey. But, on a seemingly ordinary day, Ed, the civilian without many prospects, inadvertently stops a bank robbery.
And that's when his whole world is turned upside down and the first ace arrives in the mail. Ed is now 'The Messenger'. Tasked with the cryptic and vague job of helping and hurting (where needed), Ed makes his way through his assignments. The only thing left to find out is… Who's behind Ed's mission?The characters are instantly likeable, and Ed's honesty and smart Alec nature makes him the person you root for throughout the whole book; I genuinely wish I knew Ed, simply because how great and funny a guy he is. Zusak has a unique, remarkable talent for being able to make me laugh and cry all within the space of a few pages. It's difficult to describe, but the book reads with a sort of rhythm and pace and is yet another example of Zusak's incomparable skill. The book is funny and self deprecating, the second chapter entitled: 'sex should be like maths: an introduction to my life'. The moral; the story, so to speak, of the book is beautiful and poignant, and you won't realize just how attached you've become to it until the end. I found my perspective of things irrevocably changed after reading this. I would give this book a well deserved 4/5
stars.