Zusak

I Am the Messenger by Marcus Zusak

I’ve had The Book Thief on my shelf forever but wasn’t in the mood to read it the two times I tried, and I was worried this book would be just as dark. I listened to this as an audiobook and absolutely loved it! Marc Aden Gray, with his Australian accent, was the perfect narrator since the characters are Australian. He seemed to have fun with the narration, changing his tone according to the story, and even changing his voice for different characters. This really helped pull me into the story. Most audiobooks I’d tried to listen to previously were read more straight-forward, so my mind wandered instead of paying attention to the story. I Am the Messenger made me think of radio shows from the time before TV, when families would gather ‘round to listen to a story, instead of turn on the TV and expect to be entertained. The audiobook was well-done, but I would have loved this story regardless of how I read it. There was a bit of suspense and mystery throughout the whole story, and I really identified with Ed. His story of accidentally foiling a bank robbery and then becoming an unwilling messenger of goodwill was intriguing. The ending, however, has to be one of my favorite book endings ever. I kept thinking about it - and that’s all I’ll say! Read it for yourself and you’ll understand why it might have ruined me for all other books! See my detailed review here.

You're Welcome, Universe

You’re Welcome, Universe by Whitney Gardner is so unique - the main character is an Indian Deaf teen, and she has two moms. There are so many elements of diversity, but all are handled beautifully, and never seem over the top or constructed just to be contemporary or dramatic. The story itself is really compelling. Julia is a graffiti artist and gets kicked out of her exclusively Deaf school for covering graffiti that ruined her friend’s reputation, but that doesn’t stop her tagging places around town. It actually pushes her to be more and more creative with her art – especially when a rival artist starts adding to her work, and those are additions what make people talk. Julia wants her art to stand as it is, but this artist keeps one-upping her. Adding to her stress is having a new interpreter at a mainstream school and trying to fit in, keep up with the work, and make friends.

The book includes examples of “her” work, and it really rounds out the story. It’s not exactly an illustrated novel, but the graffiti is peppered into the book and fleshes out the story.

You're Welcome, Universe won the Schneider Family Book Award at the 2018 Youth Media Awards. I watched them as a webcast and had a browser window open to my library's site, putting award winners on hold as they were announced! So many great YA books out there today, and so many are winning these great awards!