I Am the Messenger

If you like a book that is inspiring and also has a good mystery behind it this is a good book for you to read. You should go get IAm The Messenger by Marcus Zusak.

Markus Zusak has also written The Book Thief. That story has been made into a movie that opens November 27th. Some of his other books are When Dogs Cry, The Underdog, and Fighting Reuben Wolfe. I Am the Messenger was published in 2002. Markus Zusak is becoming very famous right now because of the success of The Book Thief. I chose to read this book because it was written in current time and I like reading books in present time instead of historical books.

The story is about a young cab driver named Ed. He is only 19 and hes not supposed to be driving a cab yet but he lied about his age so he would be able to. He hasn't had a very good life. His dad is dead and his mom doesn't treat him very well but she is nice to all of his other siblings. It really bothers him and makes him feel unwanted and worthless.

Ed’s best friends are Audrey, Ritchie and Marv. Another important character in the book is the doorman, Ed’s dog. Every morning they have coffee together. The doorman keeps him company when he is lonely. Those are really the only people he talks to other than his mother. Ed and his friends get together and play cards a lot and hang out. None of them really have any money they are all just getting by in life.

The story begins when they are at a bank that gets robbed. Even though he doesn’t mean to Ed becomes a hero in the robbery attempt that goes wrong. Ed’s picture is in the paper and all over the news and after that he starts receiving playing cards in the mail. The cards had names addresses and clues on them and he had no idea why. Soon he figures out that each of the clues on the card represent a person he has to deliver a message to.

The rest of the story is about Ed and his struggles and lessons he learns as he delivers these messages. What Ed learns is that when you are helping someone else you are also helping yourself. That is the theme of the story. He thought that he was doing something for them but they were really doing something for him.

I would recommend this book to people who like reading a non-fantasy fiction book instead of fantasy books. Ed is just another person and he has struggles and problems like a normal person would and it is a really interesting story about him. Even if you feel like you don't have anything you can still help somebody else. It really made me think about doing things to help other people. Even by doing something small it can really change somebody. If i was to choose another book of his to read it would probably be The Book Thief but i'm not a fast reader so I know it would take me a while to read it. I also am excited for the movie to come out my parents and I are thinking about going to see it when it comes out.

Book Review by Jake Y.