Summer Reading Blog Post 4: Why this Book?

   I chose this book because my friend recommended it to me as a great read. I was also interested in this book because I read a book also by this author called "The Book Thief" and I really enjoyed that book, and this one. I could also relate to this book as well, since I'm a teenager and i would recommend this book to any teenager or anyone who has read The Book Thief. Its a  very great read. I felt a personal connection to the book, I felt as though I could be a better human, and help people more, and have something worth living for, and that is what i think most teenagers are looking for. Having something to wake up to and do, and feel better about what they are doing. To make the world a better place. To feel like you are someone and not just some guy who likes playing cards with his friends and who is hopelessly in love with one of their friends. Making this great read to any teenager. I am really excited to read more from this author because I am happy with what i read so far. I highly recommend, if you are looking for a good book, and finding your self-worth that you should defiantly read this book.  

Summer Reading Blog Post 3: Hooking Section

   This book has several attempts of hooking you, and they do drag you into either the action, characters or the story. One section that really hooks you is when he gets his first message. It really has s dramatic, effect on the reader because before then it really didn't have anything that was intense, or dramatic. A sense of mystery to it to, like as if you don't know what it is how it came to be there, until the very end of the book. But a section that also hooks the reader in is when he first goes to one of the locations given by the message. These sections go hand-in-hand with each other to really hook the reader in. In the section he finds himself in a situation where he thought he would never be, but he doesn't do anything, but that's what we expect him to do. In the beginning it starts off right with the action and that is a very good hook. It starts off with a bank getting robbed, and Ed is in the bank as it happening, creating a very strong and authentic hook to the story. These sections hook readers in a original way.

Summer Reading Blog Post 2: Character Complexity, Themes and Structure

   In "I am the Messenger" Ed is a very transparent character, as shown in the pages, but as the story immerses you in it fantastic character interactions you come to realize that what he has become was in all along. At first he doesn't want anything because no one expect him to do anything or be anyone. but towards the end after completing deeds for people he starts to become this embodied person who wants to be someone, and has the desire to help others. Audrey begins to find desire in Ed, and begins to think that he is actually worth something and that he is someone, she isn't as complex as Ed per say but she is a character that changes throughout. Marvin, or "Marv" as Ed says in the book, begins to show to be more and more like Ed as the book rolls along, coming from this, hotheaded, selfless teenager, to this caring individual, showing change throughout. All these characters prove a solid theme being displayed in this book. Themes from, being who you are and why you were put on this earth, to finding your self-worth and helping people. These themes are also being told through the books excellent structure. Each time he gets a new message, it stars a new chapter, and after he preforms the deeds, there is a moment of reflection, providing a deeper meaning to what he is doing. This makes the book appeal to us as if we were going through what he was, creating more immersion.

Summer Reading Blog 1: Characters, Setting, and Conflict

   I chose the book "I am the Messenger" by Markus Zusak. This book tells the story of a young cabdriver by the name of Ed Kennedy. He is horrendously bad at playing cards, which the book seems to follow a card theme throughout, especially in the tittle of the chapters. Other than playing cards with his friends, Ed really doesn't have any life goals or motivation, as you can tell in the beginning. No one expects anything from him, or anything, but everything changes when one day a bank hes in gets robbed. By the end of the book his character has changed completely. Other characters in the book include Ed's best friend Marvin, a self-centered teenager, Richie, another one of Ed's friends, as well as Aubrey, who Ed is hopelessly in love with her. Also there's Milla and Timmy, another of Ed's friends. The setting of this blockbuster of a book is the suburbs of an unnamed city in Australia, perhaps Sydney or Melbourne, in which the conflict of becoming a hero in his city and becoming more than what he ever dreamed of being. When a gunman robs a bank that he is in, Ed picks up the gun he dropped and tries to shoot the gunman, as he misses he scares him of and thus he is a local hero. He also is asked to testify against the robber, as the robber threatens his life. Ed is then greeted with a mysterious package, consisting of playing cards and addresses. He is asked to go to these addresses that he is receiving, and help the people there. After a while he starts to feel good about what he is doing. He feels as though he has a life now and that it is worth living.