Book Summary:

The Messenger is a novel by Markus Zusak that tells the story of Ed Kennedy, a 19-year-old cab driver who is convinced of his own mediocrity. One day, he stops a bank robbery and becomes a hero. Soon after, he receives an Ace of Diamonds with three addresses written on it. He decides to visit the first address and witnesses a drunk man sexually assaulting his wife. The card wants him to help the wife and her daughter, but he feels unequipped to face the large, abusive man. So, he decides to move on to the next address. At the second house, Ed meets Milla, a lonely elderly woman with Alzheimer’s disease who believes Ed is her late husband. Ed helps her by spending time with her. Then, he progresses to the third address and sees a teenage girl running barefoot in preparation for track meets. He learns her name is Sophie and that she lacks confidence and always loses her races. Ed gives her an empty shoe box and although Sophie still doesn’t win her races, she now has confidence in her abilities. Finally, Ed returns to the first address, but he still does not know how he will stop the abusive man. One day, a gun appears in Ed’s mailbox, so Ed uses it to threaten the man until he promises to never hurt his wife again. Having helped all the people on the card, Ed returns home to find two masked men waiting for him. The men beat Ed up and take the gun before giving Ed a letter and the Ace of Clubs. Afterward, Ed confesses his attraction to Audrey, but she only wants to be his friend. The Ace of Clubs contains a clue which leads Ed to three names written on a stone in the local river. The first name belongs to a selfless priest whom Ed helps boost attendance at his church by throwing a big party. The second name is a single mom who dedicates her life to her children. Ed helps her by buying her an ice cream cone because he believes she deserves to be taken care of as well. The final name leads Ed to a teenage delinquent named Gavin who frequently brawls with his older brother Daniel

About the Author:

Markus Zusak is an Australian writer born on June 23, 1975 in Sydney, Australia. He is best known for his novels The Book Thief and The Messenger, both of which became international bestsellers. Zusak won the Margaret A. Edwards Award in 2014 for his contribution to young adult literature. Zusak’s parents immigrated to Australia in the late 1950s from Germany and Austria 1. Zusak is the youngest of four children and has two sisters and one brother. He attended Engadine High School and studied English and history at the University of New South Wales, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts and a Diploma of Education. Zusak is the author of six books, including The Underdog, Fighting Ruben Wolfe, When Dogs Cry, The Messenger, The Book Thief, and Bridge of Clay. His first three books were published internationally between 1999 and 2001. The Messenger was published in 2002 and won the 2003 CBC Book of the Year Award (Older Readers) and the 2003 NSW Premier’s Literary Award (Ethel Turner Prize) in Australia. It was also a runner-up for the Printz Award in America. In March 2016, Zusak talked about his then-unfinished novel Bridge of Clay. He stated that the book was 90% finished but that he was a different person than when he started writing it eight or nine years ago.

Additional infomation:

1st Edition as issued in paperback - hard to find.