“Maybe everyone can live beyond what they're capable of.”
I am the Messenger
written by Markus Zusak
Ed is pathetic. He is nine-teen years old and works as a taxi cab driver. He has three other friends Marv, Ritchie, and Audrey. He has no girlfriend only a love for Audrey, a girl who only wants to be friends. He has never accomplished anything and he doesn't seem to have any ambition to. He is nobody. Untill one day him and his friends are caught in the middle of a bank holdup when, somehow, Ed is able to stop the robber. His fifteen minutes of fame pass and he goes back to being nobody. However he has not gone unnoticed. Days after he receives a card in the mail. A literal playing card, the ace of diamonds, with three addresses written on it. Curious Ed finally gives in and visits the first address He sees that someone there needs his help. A drunken husband comes home every night and brutalizes his wife. At the second address an elderly women lives tragically in a state of loneliness. At the third a young girl is having trouble with her running. Ed realizes he has been sent to these people to do something. To deliver a message. The message he needs to deliver vary from person to person. Some are as simple as an ice cream cone while others require great sacrifice and risk. As Ed receives assignments ace by ace from an anonymous source he encounters many gauntlets as he strives to set things right for these specific people.
In a witty and strikingly grounded novel. Zusak writes about how a young man who is nothing in the eyes of his family and friends can become someone. In a entertaining read grains of humanity are seen in this touching and moving. As Ed finds the right message to give a person tender moments will make your breath catch. Twists and turns bring laughter and heart-stopping thrills. In a clever book this original plot is refreshing and compelling. Each ace brings new challenges, but what will happen when the last card is fulfilled?
