What Kind of Messenger are You?

I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'm giving this 4 stars because once again Zusak has given me something to think about.

A friend lent me this book (Thanks Lara!). I have to be honest, if I didn't respect her opinion about books so much, I would not have kept going. Like many of the other goodreads reviewers I find some of the beginning offensive. It's hard to talk about here without giving up some of the story, so I'll just leave it at that. But I encourage you to stick with it, if only for the pondering that will occur once you've finished the book. This is pretty much the same reaction I had after finishing The Book Thief. I didn't think I liked it, but it stuck with me, and I found I needed to talk about

I Am The Messenger revolves around Ed, and the messages he receives that are written on playing cards. Ed's job is to figure out what the message is, and then to do something about it. In essence, he has a mission to complete based on the clues on the cards. Sometimes the missions are scary, sometimes sweet, almost always they are hard. Ed is taken out of his passive life, and into an engaged life. He is forced out of selfish thinking, into unselfish thinking. He becomes a better person.

One of my favorite chapters is when Ed and his friends put in play a creative marketing plan to get people to Father O'Reilly's church. (I loved Father O'Reilly!) When Ed found the Father, he couldn't believe what an awful neighborhood he lived in. As Ed gets to know the father he thinks:

"...I now realize why he's chosen to live here. The church is too far away for him to really help anyone, so this is the best place for him. It's everywhere, on all sides and angles. This is where the Father needs to be. Not in some church gathering dust."

There is a great quote from Henri Nouwen that captures the essence of this book:

"We need to be Angels for each other, to give each other strength and consolation because only when we fully realize the cup of life is not only a cup of sorrow, but also a cup of joy, will we be able to drink it."

Ed became a sort of angel on his journey, and also realized that life is both parts sorrow and joy, and that he needs to be a part of it.

If your teen wants to read this book, I would recommend that you read it first, or read it together. You will be able to have some great discussions when you finish!



View all my reviews