by Markus ZusakPublished: Knopf Books, 2007
Pages: 360
This is an Eclectic Book Challenge book!
Ed Kennedy is an underage cabdriver that seems to be going nowhere with his life. Then he starts receiving cards with names on them. Ed becomes the messenger. He begins to deliver messages to people he has never met. His dull life is suddenly brimming with purpose. Only one thing remains a mystery: who's behind Ed's missions.
This book is so well written, it kept me continuously curious and interested. After the first incredibly comical chapter, I was hooked. It's not every day you read about someone unintentionally preventing a bank robbery.
The characters are incredibly engaging as well as infuriating. Ed and his friends are an incredibly complex and quirky bunch of people. They balance each other so well. The Doorman is possibly one of my favorite characters in this book. He may be just a dog, but he embodies so much more. His human characteristics and relationship with Ed makes this story ten times better. Ed knows exactly what The Doorman wants and needs and The Doorman knows exactly what Ed needs.
It seems that Zusak has a purpose for every word he writes. Each carefully placed poetically that gives this story a gritty charm. I admire how he crafts words into sentences and sentences in to paragraphs. Those paragraphs become the stories that grace the pages of his books. .
It seems that Markus Zusak can do no wrong. I cannot wait to what he has planned for his next novel.
Stars: 5/5
Praise:
"Zusak doesn't sugarcoat anything, but he makes his ostensibly gloomy subject bearable the same way Kurt Vonnegut did in Slaughterhouse-Five: with grim, darkly consoling humor."
-- Time Magazine
"Elegant, philosophical and moving...Beautiful and important."
-- Kirkus Reviews
"An extraordinary narrative."
-- School Library Journal
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