Center for Teaching & Learning

Nothing ever happens to Ed Kennedy, an underage cab driver.  He does the same thing every day.  When he’s not working, he’s at his friend Marcus’ house with his other buds, where they play cards, something Ed isn’t good at.  He hasn’t got one talent—echoing his mother’s accusations ("Ed, you good for nothing…”) — in this dark but hopeful novel, I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak.
This changes when Ed arrives home late one night to find two strange men in his house eating meat pie.  They force him to become someone called the “messenger” but answer few of his questions about his new role.
Then a playing card arrives in the mail; written on it are three addresses, and next to each address a specific time of day.  Ed realizes who he must become and what he must do.  He arrives at each address at the specified time, witnessing both horrible and beautiful things, but he always manages to help—to comfort a victim, or even just talk to somebody walking along the street.  Ed goes around town healing those who are depressed, patching up the wounded, making those whose problems he witnesses feel better, and, essentially, becoming a hero.
Ed expresses his thoughts and feelings with determination and hopefulness.  His character is filled with humor that brings a sort of comforting, warm blanket to all the darkness, seriousness, and strangeness of the rest of the book.  Apart from the thoughts and feelings, the dialogue is also extremely realistic, filled with Zusak’s magical humor that makes his characters so believable.  This novel’s darkness and its power to move the reader echo another Zusak, The Book Thief, which is about Nazi Germany.  But the humor of I Am the Messenger puts this book in a category of its own.
The chapters are set up to echo the mystery of who is sending the playing cards, and the book is divided into four parts.  Each chapter in each part represents a playing card, from ace to king, and the parts are titled with the names of the suits of cards: diamonds, clubs, spades, hearts.
I rated this book a ten out of ten, including the conclusion.  It ties all the strings together, and Zusak uses humor here, as well, creating a truly perfect ending.  Readers, be sure to turn the page when you finish the book and check out the author’s photograph.
I recommend this novel to both boys and girls, though for ages twelve and up, because of the language and content.  I Am the Messenger is serious and could be depressing, but its humor, themes, and the way it ends on a note of hope for all of us make it a must-read.
Max