I Am the Messenger

The Bibliography
Zusak, Marcus. 2002. I Am the Messenger. New York: Random House. ISBN 0375836675

The Characters
The main character of I Am the Messenger is Ed Kennedy, 19 year-old taxi driver in Australia. Other characters include his three best friends, Marv, Ritchie and Audrey, and several supporting characters - the recipients of his messages.

The Plot
Hopeless and lacking confidence in his life, Ed spends most days driving his taxi, playing cards with his friends, and sharing coffee with his smelly old dog, The Doorman. After foolishly stopping a bank robbery, things change for Ed. He receives a mysterious card in his mailbox, the Ace of Diamonds, and written upon it are three addresses. Ed realizes that he must visit these addresses and deliver a message to the people that live there. Not all messages are peaceful, not all are pleasant, but all are life changing, for Ed in particular.

The Setting
an unnamed city in Australia

The Theme
overcoming mediocrity

The Style
mostly first person vignettes

The Strengths and Weaknesses
I quite enjoyed I Am the Messenger. I had heard it was a good book, but sometimes, when people say something is great, I tend to avoid it on purpose. I don't like to be let down by books. This one was not a let down, though. I enjoyed that the sections of the book were broken down into 13 mini chapters/vignettes, one for each playing card value, Ace through King. I was impressed that Ed never did anything seriously terrible, like killing the rapist, even though I thought he did and/or should have. I'm also glad he ended up with Audrey in the end, even though she was a little on the easy side. I really find no weaknesses in this book.

The Review
Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, January 1, 2005 (Vol. 73, No. 1))
In this winner of the Australian Children's Book Award for Older Readers, 19-year-old Ed Kennedy slouches through life driving a taxi, playing poker with his buddies, and hanging out with his personable dog, Doorman. The girl he loves just wants to be friends, and his mother constantly insults him, both of which make Ed, an engaging, warm-hearted narrator, feel like a loser. But he starts to overcome his low self-esteem when he foils a bank robbery and then receives a series of messages that lead him to do good deeds. He buys Christmas lights for a poor family, helps a local priest, and forces a rapist out of town. With each act, he feels better about himself and builds a community of friends. The openly sentimental elements are balanced by swearing, some drinking and violence, and edgy friendships. Suspense builds about who is sending the messages, but readers hoping for a satisfying solution to that mystery will be disappointed. Those, however, who like to speculate about the nature of fiction, might enjoy the unlikely, even gimmicky, conclusion.

The Connection
I think it would make an interesting scavenger hunt for teens at a library program if you sat them down with some playing cards to play silly games like Blind Man's Bluff, but then sneak secret messages on some of the cards where the teens will have to go scavenging around the library to complete these hidden tasks. It would be similar to the messages Ed receives in I Am the Messenger, but also a fun activity.