I Am the Messenger, by Markus Zusak

Claudia Corneyea- Staff Writer

I Am Messenger is a novel about Ed Kennedy, a cab driver in Australia. He is an average nobody and does everything half-assed. He loves his smelly dog, the doorman and his best friend Audrey. His mother thinks he is a disappointment and the most important thing he has in life is his daily card game with friends.
When the book opens, Ed and his friends are being held up in a bank robbery. Ed chases and catches the robber and then, his life changes. After his interview is shown on television, he receives messages with lists of challenges from an unknown person. These challenges are meant to make Ed a better person and to see the potential he has. Each challenge is to help someone, be it either buying a stressed single mother an ice cream cone or helping a mother and her child get away from an abusive husband.
This inspirational story tells its readers that the simplest forms of generosity can make a huge difference in people’s lives. The impact that this lazy man has on those he helps is heartwarming. Every person he impacts stays in touch with him for the rest of the story. Ed helps an old woman by keeping her company at dinner, and ends up considering her part of his family. He helps a priest by filling his church one Sunday. He helps a teenage girl realize how special she is. He has a chance to help each of his friends and his mother. By helping his friends he realizes how much he does not know about them. Then he has a heart to heart with his mother about why she thinks he is a disappointment. Ed shows us what simple conversations could lead to and that we do not know what our friends or parents think about us until we ask.
When I first picked up this book and read that it was about a taxi driver who delivered messages, I was not interested. But after starting to read it I could not put it down. Every chapter came with a new surprise and each person Ed interacted with had a different story.
After reading this book you will want to be a better person. Ed is a relatable character because of how normal he is. Everything he does is something an everyday person could do. The message this book delivers is something everyone should learn.
Anyone has the potential to make a difference in a stranger’s life, and this story proves it. This book deserves a 10 out of 10.

 

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