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I Am the Messenger
by Markus Zusak
Ed Kennedy is a cab driver who doesn't see his life changing any time soon. No one really expects much of him, not even his own mother. His live isn't a very exciting one, until one day he stops a bank robbery. Then, the cards start coming. Each card, an ace, include a message that Ed is supposed to deliver. Some of them good, some of them bad, but the messages send Ed on a journey that will change him forever. He makes his way through messages, until there is only one thing left to figure out. Who is the one sending the messages?
This book is also one that I have been wanting to read for a while, especially after reading The Book Thief a few years ago. Markus Zusak is a beautiful writer, and he has a way of creating characters that makes them seem completely real. The characters are probably what I enjoyed most about the book, just because they are all so unique and all have their own stories. I could see them existing in real life. I must say, I was a little surprised that this book was classified as a young adult novel, just because of the age of the characters in the book. Usually, in young adult literature, the characters are around middle or high school age, and this book, I feel, would be more appropriate for a college-aged audience. That being said, this book is still beautifully written, and there wasn't anything that I found fault with when I was reading. I flew through it, just because I was so engrossed in Ed's story, and I loved the way that it all came together in the end. Definitely a book that I would recommend to others.
As for a classroom setting, I don't think that this book would be appropriate to teach as a whole class book. I think it would work as one to have on the bookshelf in upper high school classrooms, but because it deals with alcoholism, drugs, abuse, sex, and other difficult topics, I don't see where it could fit in a classroom, except as a book that students could pick up to read on their own. It might be good to have, though, especially if there is a student that is interested in The Book Thief.
This book is also one that I have been wanting to read for a while, especially after reading The Book Thief a few years ago. Markus Zusak is a beautiful writer, and he has a way of creating characters that makes them seem completely real. The characters are probably what I enjoyed most about the book, just because they are all so unique and all have their own stories. I could see them existing in real life. I must say, I was a little surprised that this book was classified as a young adult novel, just because of the age of the characters in the book. Usually, in young adult literature, the characters are around middle or high school age, and this book, I feel, would be more appropriate for a college-aged audience. That being said, this book is still beautifully written, and there wasn't anything that I found fault with when I was reading. I flew through it, just because I was so engrossed in Ed's story, and I loved the way that it all came together in the end. Definitely a book that I would recommend to others.
As for a classroom setting, I don't think that this book would be appropriate to teach as a whole class book. I think it would work as one to have on the bookshelf in upper high school classrooms, but because it deals with alcoholism, drugs, abuse, sex, and other difficult topics, I don't see where it could fit in a classroom, except as a book that students could pick up to read on their own. It might be good to have, though, especially if there is a student that is interested in The Book Thief.