Book Review: More Markus Zusak

First: Fighting Ruben Wolfe: 

  This book was ok. Not one of Zusak's better works. It's a good book for teen boys. I think they could relate to it more than others. Thankfully, I teach a class of teen boys. I shared this with them through a book talk and they seemed interested.  Essentially, brothers in a family that is going through a tough time learn the importance of family and brotherhood. Is it a must read? No. Is it terrible? Not terrible, but not one I would read again or highly recommend.

Next up: I am the Messenger

  This is another book by Markus Zusak (author of "The Book Thief"). It's actually much better than Ruben Wolfe. I would recommend reading it. It's not incredible, but it has a good message to it (no pun intended). Ed is a cab driver who stops a bank robbery. He is then spun into a whirlwind of activity when he is given cards with weird names, addresses, authors on the card. He learns (the hard way) that he has tasks to complete related to each of the cards. Ed's tasks range from simple good samaritan activities to yikes- I wouldn't do that activities. Some are easy, others are not so much. I enjoyed seeing how Ed grew throughout the book and how it affected those around him- if it did at all. I enjoyed the book. I liked that the chapters were broken into the deck of cards. For example, the ace of diamonds part is broken into chapters 2, 3, 4 all of hearts.

Overall, both books have entertainment value. Of the two, I would choose I am the Messenger. Would I highly recommend either? Not really, but Messenger is kind of fun.