I am the Messenger By: Markus Zusak

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• Title: I am the Messenger
• Author: Markus Zusak
• Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf Borzoi Books
• Publication Date: May 9, 2006
• Pages: 360
• Genre: Fiction, Young Adult
• Recommended Age: 15+
• First Read: 2014
• Source: Library
• Rating: 5.0 / 5.0 stars

So this was me, reading I am the Messenger for the first time: 

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Needless to say, Markus Zusak blew me away. To the moon. To Mars. To the next galaxy.

The book starts out innocently enough, with Ed Kennedy as a deadbeat cabdriver, hopelessly in love with his best friend, and living with an ancient dog, the Doorman. His life has been an endless cycle of card games and dead ends.

But then Ed casually stops a bank robbery.

And then he receives the first card in the mail.

And that's when Ed becomes the messenger, going around town, becoming the (not so perfect) guardian angel of his little Australian town. But as he delivers his messages around town, Ed cannot help but wonder: Who's behind his mission?

Zuzak's language is poetic without being flowery because it speaks directly to the human soul and I cannot help but fall into it every time I read one of his books. The magic that this story weaves is even more magical than if the author had included glass slippers because he is able to transform a young man who is the "epitome of ordinary" and urge him to change people's lives. I just fell in love with Ed, flaws and all because he didn't have any magic powers, was not particularly attractive, nor was particularly smart, at least in the bookish sense. The fact that he was just a regular guy trying to find his place in the world and picked out to care about the lives of others was perfect.

It's extremely difficult to write a review about this book because no box will ever contain just how "marvelous" this book was because it encompasses so many themes-of love, acceptance, joy, and loss- without being preachy or cliched. There's a simpleness to the way this book is told that deals with such complex themes that both breaks my heart and gives me faith in humanity at the same time.

Ed will take you on an adventure, and all you have to do is get in the back seat of his cab.

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