Cross-posted at: http://readingisgoodforyou.wordpress....

"Ed Kennedy is an underage cabdriver without much of a future. He’s pathetic at playing cards, hopelessly in love with his best friend, Audrey, and utterly devoted to his coffee drinking dog, the Doorman. His life is one of peaceful routine and incompetence until he inadvertently stops a bank robbery.

From critically acclaimed author Markus Zusak comes the story of an unforgettable journey filled with laughter, fists, and love.

That’s when the first ace arrives in the mail.

That’s when Ed becomes the messenger.

Chosen to care, he makes his way through town helping and hurting (when necessary) until only one question remains. Who’s behind Ed’s mission?"

This is one of those books that I probably wouldn’t have bothered picking up if I hadn’t read one hundred million reviews raving about it (that figure may be a slight exaggeration). Boy am I glad I did, though, as it’s a beautiful, touching story about this utterly ordinary guy sent on a mission to help out a few people in need.

Though the plot itself is captivating enough, Zusak true strength lies in creating these intriguing characters you can’t help but be invested in. Each of them had such a distinct voice, even the Doorman, Ed’s stinky, yet beloved Rottweiler-Shepherd cross. Ed’s narration sucked me in, right from the beginning, when he’s telling us about his humorous experience in a bank robbery gone bad (he’s not the robber, mind).

While Zusak’s compelling writing propelled me along, and kept me wondering who was behind these tasks, I really looked forward to meeting the people Ed encountered through them. Some of these encounters made me fear for Ed, while others were so sweet they brought out the sappy, yes-these-are-tears-of-joy Jenn that I try to supress as often as I can.

I thought the ending where all was revealed was dead clever, without being too gimmicky and preachy. Ed’s journey really did make me contemplate if this world could be a better place if people simply stopped being selfish for a change and strove to meet the needs of others. ( )

Diamonds, Clubs, Spades, Hearts
This was a spectacular story with a great narrator. The only thing I did not like was the ambiguous ending, and the way it was written. The way it was written was thoroughly annoying.
It would.
Write like this.
To provide.
Emphasis.
Whatever.
This book was good to be sure, but definitely not for everyone. ( )

I am the Messenger is an Michael L. Printz Award winner for young adult literature.

Narrated through the eyes of Ed Kennedy. Ed is an underage cab driver, hopelessly in love with his best friend, Audrey. Until one day he stops a bank robbery. That's when Ed receives an Ace in the mail. Mysteriously chosen as an messenger, Ed must fulfill the incomprehensible tasks set before him. From attempted homicide, to the comfort of an lonely widow. Ed attempts to complete these tasks, while struggling to find out who is behind all this.

A very decent book, it took me a while to truly appreciate the author's writing style. Very short, plain, but effectively emotional. The characters are well explained, although I don't quite feel satisfied with the ending.

A recommended read! ( )

This book had a really interesting concept, that of a man trying to help random strangers improve their lives, a bit like the French movie "Amelie." I don't think the denouement was very believable, however, and was a bit disappointed with the ending.
A good read though--very appropriate for teens. ( )

A good story, well told. Set in Australia. Told with humour and honesty. Very different to The Book Thief, but it does keeps you reading. ( )

Reviewed by Taylor Rector for TeensReadToo.com

Ed Kennedy is a nineteen-year-old cab driver who is kind of a nobody! He hasn't achieved anything great, isn't a genius, his mom despises him, and his dad died of alcoholism. The only real thing that he has is his dog, named the Doorman, who everyone says desperately needs a bath. And, he's in love with Audrey, a girl from a bad neighborhood, just like him, who also happens to be one of his best friends since forever. The thing is, Audrey doesn't know that Ed is in love with her, and worse yet, she says she doesn't believe in love.

One day, Ed and his friend stop at a local bank, but a robbery begins while they are in line. And Ed stops the guy.

So then he becomes a local hero. He is just trying to live a normal life, and then he gets a playing card in the mail with three addresses and times on it. Ed doesn't know what to do. Should he just throw the card away, like his friends instruct, or should he go to the first address to see what this is all about?

This book would be a good recommendation for fans of THE DA VINCI CODE and the movie National Treasure.

Ed is such a cool character! He seems like such a normal guy, who does things that normal guys do, and lives a very ordinary life. Until he gets the card in the mail, and he's not so ordinary anymore. ( )

fantastic and interesting plot that completely unraveled in the last 10 pages. my pal ruth told me that zusak may rewrite the ending for the uk edition. ( )

This is by far one of the best english books ever written. By combining comedy and charity, Zusak creates a book to be adored and read over and over. In itself the book is a masterpiece to be added on the shelf of Robin hood, and possibly shake spear! ( )

Everyone should read this book! ( )

i liked the 'Catcher in the Rye' vibe that the beginning started off with, but i felt like the tone got lost somehow. by the way, not really tween reading material, unless attempted murder, rape, breaking and entering, and brutal beatings are your thing.

I loved it, but felt rather cheated by the ending. ( )

Having loved The Book Thief, I came to The Messenger with a sense of both anticipation and trepidation -- the latter on the chance that Zusak, as with many writers before him, had only had one decent book in him. Fortunately, anticipation won! While I can't say I loved this quite as much as I did The Book Thief (which I thought was exceptional), it was nonetheless an original, interesting and strangely touching novel, with appeal to young adults and adults alike.

Ed Kennedy is a self-described no-hoper: "Taxi driver. Local loser. Cornerstone of mediocrity. Sexual midget. Pathetic card player." Together with a group of similarly apathetic friends and a smelly, coffee-drinking dog known as the Doorman, he is living an uninspired life in a dead end town -- until he foils an attempted bank robbery and is 'chosen' by an unknown power to intervene in the lives of struggling townsfolk. Following ambiguous clues delivered (not always kindly) on playing cards, Ed encounters and assists a range of strangers, helping them find peace, acceptance, security and self esteem. It is through these successes that he discovers the courage to challenge those closest to him, and ultimately finds the self respect necessary to take charge of his own life.

More than anything this is a novel about hope, about choosing to live the best life we can, irrespective of location or circumstances. This is summed up at the end of the book with the words: "If a guy like you can stand up and do what you did, then maybe everyone can. Maybe everyone can live beyond what they're capable of". That this message comes wrapped in beautifully written prose, and is delivered by an unlikely, yet overtly likeable protagonist, only adds to its attraction. I would definitely recommend this book to those who enjoy an entertaining, yet thought provoking, read. ( )

What I got from this book is that everyone could make a difference in someone elses life, just by being a messenger. This book will never leave my book shelves,
just like The Book Thief. ( )

After the unforgettable ‘The Book Thief’, I wondered if this earlier novel, ‘The Messenger’, would be up to scratch. Fans need not worry - ‘The Messenger’ it is a testament to the brilliance of Zusak's writing – and I was completely gripped from the first line. The blurb on the front cover says, don't start reading this book unless you're prepared to sit there and read it all the way through – and that is good advice.

‘The Messenger’ is completely different from ‘The Book Thief’, not only in subject matter, but also tone, characters, plotline, and story location. Yet both books are similar, in that their protagonists face situations that would never come up in our lives. Zusak's voice in this novel is, to me, recognisably Australian - but this does not detract from the universailty of the tale - if anything, it adds to the impact . His prose is brilliant and on every page there are phrases that are luminous with meaning,

Ed Kennedy is the sort of directionless young bloke that you can see in any suburb. He drives a taxi, hangs around with his friends playing cards. fights with his mum, and shares coffee with his geriatric, odoriferous, clever dog, The Doorman. Then one day he intervenes in the most inept bank robbery ever imaginable ... and his life changes. He begins receiving playing cards - aces - with messages he must figure out and tasks he must undertake. And we are kept in the dark as to who the deliverer of the messages is and why Ed has been chosen ... until the very last page.

‘The Messenger’ didn't move me to tears like ‘The Book Thief’ did – but it was nonetheless profoundly affecting. Zusak has again delivered a life-changing story. I closed it with a warm and positive feeling about the remarkable difference small actions by one person can make in other peoples’ lives. Ed, his old friends and his new friends (who could not feel great affection for Millaa?) - and of course the Doorman - will remain fixed in my memory for a long time to come.

This book delivers powerful and profound messages of faith, the underlying goodness of humanity, and the encouragement to understand that we must risk and stretch to achieve our purpose in life. ( )

This is a fun book. I'm not sure whether it is really a young adult book, but it is truly intriguing and enjoyable. I loved the coffee drinking Doorman. I only give it a four because I didn't like the way it wrapped up; however, the book was so good it did not bother me. ( )

I read it in a night. This book is beautiful, harsh, funny and wise all in one. Firstly, it's fast paced, and gripping - while the plot can sometimes slow, the writing is a joy to read, and keeps you absorbed. The characters are all well formed, interesting people, and they make you want to know more about them. The plot, is just gorgeous. It carries an underlying message that is brought to the surface slowly as the main character (Ed) realizes it himself. There is violence, but it's balanced with the beauty. Markus Zusak's writing is occasionally disjointed, and confusing, but his style compliments what this novel is trying to say. The ending, which came totally out of the blue for me, stuck in my head for hours. This book is a keeper, and one to read over and over.

This is a wild book. I found it really compelling. Some elements are brutal and at times repellent, and others are very touching. The ending was a little challenging. I had to read it a few times and then I had to think about it for a couple of days. ( )

An all right book. An uplifting story, but also a very depressing one. I wouldn't recommend it. ( )

I had read The Book Thief first and thought that if I liked that one, I would like this one too. I wasn’t wrong, in fact it was a totally different kind of liking, though in some ways things were similar in both books. This is definitely more of an adult read and while some people found the randomness of it hard to follow, I found it refreshing. I enjoyed reading a book just about people, without being too thick on an exact plot and good guys versus bad guys. There is still good against bad, right against wrong, but it’s delivered in every day life, the way we would all live it… With the twist at the end that made me grin.

This isn’t to say that this is a book without plot or that it is exactly the same as The Book Thief. There is a story style that is the same and they share the same sort of difference in ending to other books, but the story itself isn’t the same at all. The plot behind the book was just some time in the life of a guy and his friends, reminding people that any instant can be the point where your life turns around, even if it takes months for it to finish turning to a point where you notice it.

If you’re the kind of person who has to have a defined story-line with an obvious idea of what’s happening, you probably won’t enjoy this as much. If you enjoy people as they are, like just watching things around you as they happen, it’ll probably be one you want to read. ( )

19 year old cab driver Ed Kennedy lacks purpose, direction and motivation. His life consists of three friends, a smelly dog, a dead beat job, an argumentative relationship with his mother and monotonous card games with his small group of buddies.

Life changes when he witnesses a bank robbery and inadvertently stops the robber which then in turn sets a domino like string of events in place.

Originally feeling like he is never dealing with a full deck and is missing the meaning and purpose of life, he is suddenly thrust into days and nights of decision making when he systematically receives playing cards with names and/or addresses.

As he searches for the clues regarding the meaning of the cards, his discovery leads him to people needing assistance.

Some of the stories resulting from his adventures are heartbreaking and touching.

While I enjoyed this book, I found it meandered too much for my liking. The story line was confusing at times and too often I went back to read passages that simply didn't make sense.

While some of the stories of the people he helped brought tears, for the most part I grew frustrated at the lack of direction and sentences that seemed to go no where. The ending was a disappointment.

2.5 stars ( )

Ed Kennedy is a 19-year-old loser only marginally connected to the world, who lives in a flat with his smelly dog, The Doorman, drives a cab for a living, drinks coffee and plays cards with friends. His life begins to change after he acts heroically during a bank robbery. Ed starts receiving playing cards in the mail. Ed instinctively understands that the scrawled words on the cards are clues to be followed, which lead him to people he will help, including some he'll have to hurt first. But as much as he changes those who come into his life, he changes himself more. ( )

A well-written story, although a little confusing at times (why does he keep delivering these messages?)...

From Google Books:
Meet Ed Kennedy—underage cabdriver, pathetic cardplayer, and useless at romance. He lives in a shack with his coffee-addicted dog, the Doorman, and he’s hopelessly in love with his best friend, Audrey. His life is one of peaceful routine and incompetence, until he inadvertently stops a bank robbery. That’s when the first Ace arrives. That’s when Ed becomes the messenger. . . .

Chosen to care, he makes his way through town helping and hurting (when necessary), until only one question remains: Who’s behind Ed’s mission? ( )

After reading The Book Thief, I decided to give I Am the Messenger a try. In the end, I liked this book more than The Book Thief. It's a story of second chances and how one one event can change your life forever. It is a funny and thoughtful adventure ripe with unusual characters. I would highly recommend this book. ( )

After capturing a bank robber, nineteen-year-old cab driver Ed Kennedy begins receiving mysterious messages that direct him to addresses where people need help, and he begins getting over his lifelong feeling of worthlessness. (BCCLS)

Printz Award. ( )

Ed Kennedy, a 19-year-old cab driver with not much more ambition to do anything else with his life, is plagued with anonymous playing cards with secret messages inscribed on them. Ed doesn't understand the meaning or the purpose of the cards, but he's willing to find out. This willingness sends Ed on a tumultuous ride in life.

I Am the Messenger's theme, setting and interesting characters all contributed to my enjoyment. Hovering over Ed as he followed his instincts, and wondering where and why he was being lead to certain destinations was fun and engaging. However, the ending turned out to be a bit of a letdown. That put a damper on my final feelings of the book. One thing I loved, every time I heard it (audiobook), was the name of Ed's dog. What a clever name! Zusak has a unique voice in his writing that I enjoy. I will be happy to pick up another book by him. (3.75/5)

Originally posted on: "Thoughts of Joy..." ( )