I Am the Messenger, by Markus Zusak
About I Am the Messenger
My full name's Ed Kennedy. I'm nineteen. I'm an underage cabdriver. I'm typical
of many of the young men you see in this suburban outpost of the city — not a
whole lot of prospects or possibility. That aside, I read more books than I
should, and I'm decidedly crap at sex and doing my taxes. Nice to meet you
Ed is an absolutely normal 19 year old. He's got his best friend, his coffee-drinking dog, his hopeless crush, and a fairly soulless job. However, everything changes when he accidentally foils a bank robbery. Ed begins to receive mysterious playing cards in the mail with details about people he's never met. Eventually, Ed realizes that these are people who need help-- but why is he being targeted? And how can a cab driver be the instrument of change in these people's lives? The story is convoluted and confusing but beautiful, especially when Ed transitions form the role of the passenger to the messenger.
of many of the young men you see in this suburban outpost of the city — not a
whole lot of prospects or possibility. That aside, I read more books than I
should, and I'm decidedly crap at sex and doing my taxes. Nice to meet you
Ed is an absolutely normal 19 year old. He's got his best friend, his coffee-drinking dog, his hopeless crush, and a fairly soulless job. However, everything changes when he accidentally foils a bank robbery. Ed begins to receive mysterious playing cards in the mail with details about people he's never met. Eventually, Ed realizes that these are people who need help-- but why is he being targeted? And how can a cab driver be the instrument of change in these people's lives? The story is convoluted and confusing but beautiful, especially when Ed transitions form the role of the passenger to the messenger.
How could I teach I Am the Messenger?
Some themes included in I Am the Messenger include...
- Destiny vs. Autonomy
- Helping vs. Hurting
- Active vs. Passive Actions
- Needs of strangers/needs of friends
What resources could I use to teach I Am the Messenger?
This interview with Markus Zusak details some of his decisions during I Am the Messenger.
"I was never exactly like Ed, although all of his fears and doubts about himself must come from somewhere in me. I guess I had more prospects than him when I was nineteen, but I didn’t really feel like it. I at least knew what I wanted, and that was to be a writer…That was when I was in my very valuable (in hindsight) failure stage, where I couldn’t finish anything, where I was aiming too far out of reach. What I didn’t realize is that I was struggling to find my own style."
"I was never exactly like Ed, although all of his fears and doubts about himself must come from somewhere in me. I guess I had more prospects than him when I was nineteen, but I didn’t really feel like it. I at least knew what I wanted, and that was to be a writer…That was when I was in my very valuable (in hindsight) failure stage, where I couldn’t finish anything, where I was aiming too far out of reach. What I didn’t realize is that I was struggling to find my own style."
The lyrical and slightly abstract tone to this novel would lend itself well to pairing with music/lyrics, or to an assignment that asks students to find and analyze song lyrics. Some music that thematically matches I Am the Messenger includes:
Also "If Everyone Cared" by Nickelback, but I can't justify exposing children to that.
The Verdict
I would like to teach this as a class text or literature circles book with grades 10-12. I think that readers would have to work a little harder than they might be used to-- like The Book Thief, it takes some extra effort-- but the effort is well worth it.