I am the Messenger
Realistic Fiction
By Markus Zusak
Reviewed by Esther Parmelee
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
“Protect the Diamonds
Survive the clubs
Feel the hearts
Dig deep through the spades”
Ed Kennedy was your average lazy cabdriver, without much of a 
future, without any respect, and he lived in a shack. His own mother has no respect, or fondness for that matter, for Ed. This all changes one day, when Ed points a gun at a robber, who was attempting to rob a bank but was too incompetent to do the job. Soon after he is pronounced a hero, he receives a playing card, an ace; the ace of diamonds. On the ace there are three addresses, and three times. Ed knows he must help those on the ace, after he finishes the first ace the next will come. The first ace was the easiest, but after they become more difficult. Ed realizes he’s a pawn in a game, a twisted game, although he helps people, Ed wonders why he was chosen.
In this book Ed must face challenges he never thought were achievable. He also learns how and why he was chosen to care and act for those on the aces. This book is for readers who are self-aware, about not only themselves, but the people that surround them. I am the Messenger is an interesting read, capturing real life problems, while weaving in a thread of hope for a wonderful outcome. Markus Zusak develops his characters like your average people, greedy, quiet, broken, and not un-realistic; everyone is not perfect, happy and chipper all the time. The plot is tad complex, but Zusak couldn’t just write about these real life problems in a way, that people wouldn’t find complex. This book is a book of bravery; bravery to be someone, bravery to help someone.
I highly recommend this book; this is a most wonderful read that many would enjoy.
