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From 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. - Hillias J. Martin, New York Public Library
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From 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 unmistakeable, 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. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing,
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This review is from: I Am the Messenger (Paperback)
I absolutely loved this book. I think that every person should read it at least once in their life. Looking forward to reading it again.
4.0 out of 5 stars
"I am not just the messenger, I am the message!",
By
This review is from: I Am the Messenger (Paperback)
There's very little positive that one can say about Ed Kennedy's achievements in life and, what's even worse, he knows it. At the tender age of nineteen, he's already suffering a full blown mid-life crisis. His best friend is a dog so smelly it could gag a sewer rat at twenty paces. The only job he's had which amounts to the tiniest hill of beans is driving a cab. He's madly in love with Audrey, a girl who refuses to love anyone and treats him only as her best friend. His male friends, Richie and Marvin, are equally washed up. Their only entertainments are rugby, boozing and playing cards. His father was an alcoholic and his mother treats him with utter disdain and a complete lack of respect.Whether it was the right place at the right time or the wrong place at the wrong time is a matter of debate but, one day in the middle of his otherwise humdrum life, Ed Kennedy is caught in the middle of a bank robbery. When he manages to nab the robber, he is hailed as a local hero and destiny pushes his life down a new path. He begins to receive anonymous coded messages on playing cards instructing him to be at a certain address at a certain time. Clearly, on the basis of his ability to halt a bank robbery, somebody is assigning him to a series of tasks which are intended to change other people's lives. The missions are widely varied - rescuing a woman from a nightly rape by her alcohol-soaked husband; giving the gift of happiness to a confused elderly lady by assuming the role of her long dead husband; providing an enthusiastic congregation to an unfulfilled parish priest; forcing spiteful brothers to recognize their love for one another; and so on. And whoever is behind these cryptic messages is not allowing Ed the option of declining the invitation. A serious beating at the hands of two mysterious night visitors convinces Ed that he has no choice but to assume the role of "the messenger". "I am the Messenger" is, of course, a message. It is intended to convey the idea that worldly achievements - wealth, good looks or fame, for example - are not the basis of a fulfilled life. Love, charity, friendship, happiness and other more lasting virtues not only come from somewhere else entirely but require considerable investment of effort to achieve them. Adults reading "I am the Messenger" may think that Zusak has succumbed to sermonizing. They might also suggest that the emotional impact of his novel is so sweet as to be cloying. However, if we remember that Zusak's intended audience is the young adults in grades 9 to 12, then we might forgive him for being a little obvious and leaving a little less to the intuitive leaps of a more mature reader. While it doesn't have quite the gripping power of his previous novel, "The Book Thief", "I am the Messenger" is still quite capable of putting a lump in your throat and a smile on your face. Engaging characters, raw but realistic dialogue, endearing life-affirming messages and a satisfying ending make "I am the Messenger" a novel well worth the time invested to read it. Highly recommended. Paul Weiss
5.0 out of 5 stars
This blew me away...,
By Carol (North York, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: I Am the Messenger (Paperback)
Yes it did - and I've been reading books, of all kinds, for over 50 years now. And I'm getting kind of picky in my old age. I want to be entertained, I want to learn, I want to be amazed...and I want to be moved. This book fulfilled and exceeded all my expectations...I finished it, regretfully coming to the end, but uplifted by that ending. Zusak doesn't hit you over the head with platitudes; he doesn't preach; he doesn't try to dazzle you with cleverness. He IS a message. I'm always wary of stories that begin with a beloved pet, but this one ends with that same pet, still beloved. And with a young person, who has learned in an unusual way, what it means to be a friend, a son, a worthwhile citizen...along the way we have met a wonderful collection of perfectly ordinary people, people who we probably know, but whom we have never seen and, hopefully, will see now. Wipe away your tears after you have read this; they are not tears of sadness, but of hope for this world and the possibilities in each one of us to recognize that hope and to deliver those possibilities as best we can. I am reminded of this quotation of William Penn: "If there is any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow human being, let me do it now, and not defer or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again."
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