I AM THE MESSENGER

TITLE: I AM THE MESSENGER
AUTHOR: MARKUS ZUSAK
Pages: 357
Date: 25/06/2009
Grade: 5
Details: Young Adult Novel
Library

Mr. Zusak sure knows how to write one of a kind books, and so far, I'm loving them. I like the way his stories are far from predictable, the way his characters are rarely just black or white and the way he deals with life the way it is, rather than making it either better or worse.
This is Ed Kennedy's story. He is a 19-year old, under aged, taxi driver in an unnamed Australian town. He is in love with his best friend Audrey, who just wants to stay that, just friends, gets regularly verbally abused by his mother, and appears to be on a long road to nowhere, accompanied by his smelly dog Doorman.
Then he accidentally stops a bank robbery and Ed's life changes.
He receives a playing card in the mail, the Ace of Diamonds with three addresses written on it. He soon learns that the people living there need help in some way; Help is soon determined to provide.
As he works his way through the four Aces in the deck he continues to help people, sometimes through kindness, sometimes using violence, and never knowing who has send him on his quest or why.
A quest that will give him a better insight into people in general, those close to him in particular, bit especially into himself.
Utterly beautiful.