I Am the Messenger-- Markus Zusak

Zusak got a lot of press for The Book Thief, which I may or may not get around to this year. But I Am the Messenger is a mystery, and I've already told you how I feel about those.

(This makes me wonder-- why don't I tend to read mystery/ suspense novels for adults? My first thought is to say there are major differences between these and their young adult counterparts, but I have to give that some thought.)

I Am the Messenger is suspenseful, sweet, funny, and heartbreaking all at once. Ed Kennedy is 19, living in a shack in the same town where he grew up, but distant his family. He doesn't think much of himself; he feels stuck in his cab-driving job, and stuck in his hopeless love for his best friend Audrey, and sees his three friends as rather stuck too. One day, Ed unwittingly stops a bank robbery, and then receives a playing card in the mail with three addresses written on it. He can't run from these responsibilities and he can't doubt himself-- he is the messenger.

The story takes a series of emotional turns, connecting Ed to many people who were strangers-- even the people he knows well. Zusak does suspense really well; I had to finish this book the same day I started. It's not as subtle as When You Reach Me and the ending is not as clever, but it's incredibly enjoyable, and perhaps more relatable for older and/ or male readers.

Recommended for high school readers on account of some sexual content, some of it troubling, but nothing graphic.

The London Eye Mystery-- Siobhan Dowd

As a kid, I loved mystery novels. Whenever our librarian highlighted a title with "mystery" in the title or "mysterious" in the plot description, I swear I trampled the other kids to get it to the checkout desk first.

(Ok, maybe I wasn't that aggro. But my enthusiasm for the genre is not to be under-emphasized.)

The London Eye Mystery totally had me squirming in my seat with suspense, much like the last mystery I read and loved. In much the same way, this one also has a lot of other great stuff going on in addition to the compelling plot.

Ted and Kat take their cousin Salim to ride the London Eye, and just can't refuse the free ticket offered to him by a stranger. They track his pod all the way around; when it comes back down again, everyone gets off-- but not Salim. The grown-ups commandeer the investigation into Salim's disappearance; although Ted has some "interesting theories," no one will listen to him except Kat. They decide to conduct an investigation of their own.

Ted-- with his formal dress, BBC accent, and obsession with meteorology-- is an excellent character and a great young detective. He takes everything literally (a manifestation of his Asperger syndrome), which makes for some very funny moments. His system for recognizing other's emotions, and his tics indicating his own feelings, add unexpected dimensions to his narration. He is used to being written off by people and doesn't have many friends; young readers need not have autism to identify with his outsider status. In an addition, there is some very astute observation of family dynamics and racist bullying that gives the story serious substance.

I thought I had the plot all figured out in the first two chapters, but then I realized there was a whole other side to the mystery I hadn't considered. The last bit of unraveling was unexpected; it seems unlikely that the kids would piece it together, but there's no underestimating Ted.

When You Reach Me-- Rebecca Stead

I knew something was up when two staff at my favorite book store listed When You Reach Me (a young adult novel!) as one of their Top 5 books for the year, and every single review I saw was favorable. I ordered it and by the time it uh, reached me, it had won the 2009 Newbery Medal. I don't have many award-winners on my reading list, for reasons previously mentioned, but I was so intrigued by the reviews-- purposely vague, but enticing-- I didn't think twice about picking up this book.

There is so much going on in When You Reach Me I can’t describe it, and it’s done so flawlessly that I won’t do the book the disservice of trying. It’s a mystery involving a sudden attack on a friend, a missing housekey, a series of unsigned notes, and the growing feeling that something terrible is about to happen. It’s suspenseful and deeply, surprisingly emotional at the same time. It also alludes heavily to my mom’s favorite book ever; it freaked me out a little bit because I felt the book was written especially for me, but I think other readers will feel the same way.

The best thing, the absolute best thing about this book, is that it totally made me feel like my childhood self. Reading it was electric and effortless. I think when I was younger all books seemed like that to me, but it’s been a long time since I’ve finished a book in the course of a single weekday. I structured that day around reading time. I positively tingled with anticipation during my non-reading hours. I stayed up late at night to finish it, and when I finished it I got scared when I turned off the light. It made me feel uncertain about reality in a way that I thought could only happen when your mind is inexperienced and malleable.

You'll have to experience it for yourself.

What are you waiting for?